Parliament discusses constitutional amendments

CAIRO - 21 March 2019: At a general session, Egypt’s House of Representatives is discussing the newly proposed amendments to the 2014 constitution.

As per the constitutional amendments, the presidential term would be extended for 6 years instead of 4 years and heads of the judicial bodies would be appointed by the president.

The new amendments also call for allocating 25 percent of the Parliament seats for women. Other judiciary officials asked for extending the presidency of the judicial bodies for 6 years instead of 4 years.

One fifth of parliament members submitted a proposal to conduct constitutional amendments in line with Article 226 of the constitution and Article 140 of Parliament’s internal by-laws. They asked for extending the presidential term to six years from four, “as the current circumstances have proven the step essential,” according to a statement issued by the Parliament on February 3, 2019. The amendments also tackle appointing the heads of judicial bodies by the president.