Egypt President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has reiterated, while receiving Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo at the presidential headquarters Saturday, that parliamentary elections will be held in March 2015.

The confirmation came a few days after El-Sisi ratified a new electoral constituencies law, a step yielding the beginning of the long-delayed ‎parliamentary polls process, the last part of the roadmap drawn after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

During his meeting with Garcia-Margallo, El-Sisi said he’s looking forward to Spain’s support for Egypt’s bid to be elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2016/17. Egypt was last member of the Security Council in 1997.

Speaking of foreign affairs, El-Sisi highlighted that Egypt is keen to play vital roles to end the war in Syria, saying Cairo has good relations with all parties involved in the struggle.

On the Palestinian cause, El-Sisi reiterated Egypt’s vision to establish an independent Palestinian state, underlining that talks with Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been intensive.