Washington, Mar 7 : Parliamentary elections in Egypt, scheduled to begin next month, have been suspended by a court amid political tensions in the country which have been going on for months.

The Cairo Administrative Court said it had ordered the elections to be suspended because the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament, the Shura Council, had not returned the electoral law to the Supreme Constitutional Court for a final review after amending it in February, BBC reports.

The legal advisor of President Mohammed Morsi, who had declared the electoral law, had initially said that the presidency would appeal against the court''s decision, but later issued a statement saying that the President respected the court''s decision. Morsi had announced last month that the elections for the People''s Assembly would take place in four stages over two months, starting on 22 April, the report added.

However, Morsi''s opponents said the ruling was further proof that the president and his Muslim Brotherhood party were mismanaging the country and seeking a monopoly on power.

The elections were called by the president only weeks after more than 70 people were killed in clashes between security forces and opposition supporters at protests held across the country to mark the second anniversary of the revolution which removed Hosni Mubarak, the report added. (ANI)