CAIRO, Jan 29 (Aswat Masriya) – The period for applying for candidacy in the upcoming parliamentary elections will start on February 8, the Supreme Elections Commission (SEC) announced on Thursday.

The upcoming parliamentary elections are scheduled to begin in March, with the first phase taking place on March 22-23.

In its announcement today SEC said the electoral campaigning period for the first phase will begin on February 26 and end on March 20.   

The second phase of elections will be held on April 26-27. The campaigning period for this phase is due to start on April 3 and end on April 24.

In December, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ratified the electoral constituencies law, the final step that was needed before starting the elections.

Once held the parliamentary elections would mark the completion of the roadmap, which Sisi announced in July 2013 following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi by the military after mass protests against his rule.

At the time of announcing it, Sisi served as defence minister. He resigned from the position in March 2014 to launch his presidential bid.

In October, The Carter Center, an international democracy watchdog announced that it will not observe the upcoming elections.

The announcement came as part of the center's decision to shut down its Cairo office citing, "political environment in Egypt was "deeply polarised and that political space has narrowed for Egyptian political parties, civil society, and the media."

Earlier this month, the president held talks with representatives of political parties from across the spectrum. He stressed the state's commitment to represent all political parties in the upcoming parliament.

Egypt's parliament will be made up of 567 seats; 420 members will be individually elected, 120 will join the parliament through electoral lists, and 27 members will be appointed by the president.