Militant attacks that killed over 30 soldiers in North Sinai on Friday will not affect the timing of parliamentary elections, Local Development Minister Adel Labib said on Monday

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab has said the elections will take place by the end of the year.

Thirty-one members of the security forces were killed in two attacks in North Sinai on Friday.

Labib said provincial elections would take place after the parliamentary poll.

The parliamentary vote is the third and last step in a political roadmap set forth after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Since then, a new constitution has been passed and President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi elected president.

The president holds legislative powers until an elected parliament convenes. 

A parliamentary elections law was passed by former president Adly Mansour on his last day in office in June.

The law was criticised by numerous parties for allocating 80 percent of parliamentary seats to individual candidates. Political groups said this would recreate the political environment that allowed Hosni Mubarak’s now-dissolved National Democratic Party to manipulate power.