Lawsuit calling to amend law limiting presidential terms adjourned to Jan.

CAIRO – 24 December 2018: Cairo Court of Urgent Matters decided on Dec. 23 to adjourn to Jan. 20 a lawsuit to amend article no. 140 of the Constitution to extend the presidential term for more than four years as long as people approve the amendment in a referendum.


Lawyer Ayman Abdel Hakim and his fellow petitioners wrote in their court filing that the article is unfair to the Egyptian people, especially as only eight years (two presidential terms) are very short in light of the big dangers and challenges the country is encountering.

The lawsuit also said the article breaks the will of the Egyptian people, and that it was put by the committee forming the constitution only to emulate the western countries despite the different circumstances present in each country.


It also highlighted the achievements made during President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi's first term in office, including the new Suez Canal, the 1.5 million feddan project, the national projects for developing Sinai and Upper Egypt, in addition to road, housing and electricity projects nation-wide.

Some citizens, mostly youth, gathered on Sunday before the Court of Urgent Matters in Abdeen, calling for extending the presidential term.

---

Parts of the reporting were taken from MENA