The Egyptian Higher Presidential Elections Commission (HPEC) said Sunday that it has postponed the announcement of all details about the presidential election timetable in response to the Foreign Ministry's request to make necessary arrangements to give the expatriates enough time to vote.

"The commission received a letter from the Foreign Ministry explaining the difficulty to vote via mails in short time, because the post offices' holidays differ due to the time in each country, and that requires at least two weeks for voting," said Farouk Sultan, head of the Supreme Constitutional Court and the HPEC.

Another week will be necessary for sorting the votes due to lack of diplomats and officials, said the letter.

The expected numbers of Egyptians abroad to go to the polling stations are more than 1 million, half of them living in Saudi Arabia, and the presidential election will take place in one stage, not three stages like the lower house elections, so it will be impossible to manipulate the election process, according to the letter.

The HPEC decided to receive the candidate's requests from March 10 till April 8.

The results of Egypt's first presidential elections since the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak are to be announced before the end of the transition period, which is the end of June, Sultan said.