Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak issued a decree on Friday and announced that the first round of elections for the Shura Council, or the upper house of bicameral parliament, will be held on June 11.

The second round will be held on June 18, the official news agency MENA quoted the presidential decree as saying.

Egypt's Shura Council was created in 1980 through a constitutional amendment. It consists of 264 members, of which 174 members are directly elected and the other 88 are appointed by the president.

Members of the Shura Council serve for six years, with elections for a third of the membership every three years.

The lower house of Egyptian parliament is called the People's Assembly, with 454 members in total.

The Shura Council is currently dominated by the ruling National Democratic Party, which also maintains a large majority in the People's Assembly.

Source: Xinhua