Egypt’s parliament on Tuesday approved amendments to the constitution that could keep Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in power until 2030, although they still have to be endorsed in a referendum to take effect.
The changes would extend al-Sisi’s current term to six years from four and then allow him to run again for a third term, which would last six years.
The amendments would also bolster the role of the military in political life and increase the president’s power over the judiciary, critics of the changes say.
Photo: AP
The 596-member parliament, which is dominated by al-Sisi supporters, voted 531 to 22 in favor of the amendments.
A date for the referendum has not yet been confirmed, but Cairo is full of banners encouraging Egyptians to participate.
Al-Sisi’s supporters say that the changes are necessary to give him more time to complete major development projects and economic reforms, while his critics say that they concentrate more powers in the hands of a leader accused by rights groups of presiding over a relentless crackdown on freedoms.
“This will result in the most centralized system for rule that Egypt has seen in almost half a century,” said Nathan Brown, a professor of political science at George Washington University.
Michele Dunne, director and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East Program, said that the amendments were intended to remove the possibility of political competition for al-Sisi.
“These amendments are not needed for the good of Egypt; rather they constitute a personalization of power for Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi,” she said. “They will also become a strong public grievance against him and might sow the seeds of his ultimate undoing.”
The changes include creating a second parliamentary chamber to be known as the Senate, composed of at least 180 members, one-third of whom would be appointed by the president.
They would also give the president new powers over the appointment of judges and the public prosecutor.
In a report about the draft amendments, parliament’s legislative committee said that a four-year term was not enough in Egypt, which is still recovering from the turmoil that followed a 2011 uprising.
“It is an unrealistic period ... to achieve complete and sustainable development,” a draft of the report said regarding article 140, which would extend the presidential term to six years.
The committee said that al-Sisi had not asked for the amendments.
The Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of Egyptian opposition parties, on Monday called for parliament to reject the changes and for Egyptians to vote against the amendments in the planned referendum.
On Monday, NetBlocks, an Internet monitoring group, said that Egypt had blocked access to an estimated 34,000 Internet domains in an apparent attempt to eliminate an online campaign opposing the proposed amendments.
This came after Egypt last week blocked a petition Web site set up to collect signatures against the referendum.
Users were still able to access the site, voiceonline.net, from abroad or via a virtual private network.
When Reuters accessed the petition Web site on Tuesday it had reached 300,000 signatures.
The Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Egypt State Information Service could not immediately be reached for comment.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was