Egypt opposition bloc getting ready for vote

CAIRO: A loose alliance of Egyptian opposition parties said it is preparing to take part in a parliamentary election later this year, a sign that President Muhammad Mursi’s secular opponents may drop plans for a blanket boycott.
The National Salvation Front, an umbrella group formed last year in opposition to the ruling party, said in a statement it was getting ready for the election while pursuing “the struggle” to create the right atmosphere for a free and fair vote.
The grouping of leftist and liberal parties had said it would boycott the election originally called by Mursi for April. The vote was then postponed by a court ruling. Mursi has said the election could now begin in October.
In a statement, the NSF repeated demands for a neutral government to oversee the election and the appointment of a new prosecutor general: The current one is viewed by the opposition as biased in favor of the Brotherhood. But it did not explicitly threaten a boycott of the vote, in what analysts saw as a recognition that some of its members, such as the liberal Wafd Party, plan to take part regardless.
The NSF said it considered parliamentary elections one of the ways to save the nation “when guarantees that they are free and fair are in place.”