Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy announced on Friday that the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, would be allowed to take part in upcoming parliamentary elections in the country. The announcement comes less than a year Egypt’s Brotherhood-lined former president Mohammed Morsi was removed from power by the army amid historically unprecedented popular anti-government protests calling for his removal:

Fahmy told Reuters in an interview that the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, “is still legal in Egypt” and free to participate in the parliamentary election.

Speaking during a visit to Spain, he said presidential elections would be announced “by the end of next spring” and that the elections would be held a maximum of two months after the announcement.

“So you’re looking at elections in the summer for president. That’s the last step,” he said.

It is unclear whether the Brotherhood will participate in the elections: the organization and its offshoots have historically sought to boycott elections in order to undermine the legitimacy of subsequent governments.

The Brotherhood over the summer rejected reconciliation efforts by Cairo’s interim government and at the time vowed to continue protests until Morsi was reinstated.

The move will be read against recent statements by Secretary of State John Kerry suggesting that Washington had assessed that the Egyptians were moving toward reestablishing formal democracy in the aftermath of the army’s moves against the Brotherhood.

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