CAIRO, Dec 16 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's presidency is currently holding hearing sessions with legal experts and politicians to decide whether parliamentary or presidential elections will take place first, Presidential Aide Ali Awad told Aswat Masriya on Monday.

Interim President Adli Mansour will decide on that promptly after the referendum on the country's constitution, which is scheduled for mid-January if the people vote for it.

The draft constitution grants the president the right to determine the timing of elections and the nature of the electoral system in the absence of a legislative council.

The constitutional declaration that regulates the transitional phase has initially stated that a poll on the suspended constitution takes place to be followed by parliamentary elections and then presidential elections.

Several political forces have demanded that presidential elections take place first, "given the circumstances that require an elected president to take crucial decisions."