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| - Egypt will hold parliamentary elections on October 24 and 25, the head of the election commission told a televised news conference on Thursday. Lashin Ibrahim said the second round of the election will be held on November 7 and 8, the website of the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported. Egypt's 596-seat parliament, dominated by supporters of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was elected in 2015. A former military chief, Sisi became president in 2014, a year after leading the military's ouster of Egypt's first freely-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, on the back of major protests against the Islamist's rule. Sisi was re-elected in 2018 with more than 97 percent of the vote, after standing virtually unopposed. Last year, Sisi further cemented his grip on power with a snap referendum to approve constitutional amendments allowing him to remain president until 2030. Under Sisi, Egypt has drawn wide international condemnation for its sweeping crackdown on dissent, ranging from Morsi's Islamist supporters to secular and liberal activists. In August, Egypt elected a new Senate, with candidates on an electoral list loyal to Sisi winning overwhelmingly in the upper house. hha/awa/hkb/dwo
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