Egypt's NEA to announce referendum on constitutional amendments Wednesday

CAIRO – 17 April 2019: Egypt’s National Election Authority (NEA), the body charged with managing the electoral process, is preparing at 3 p.m. on Wednesday to announce a timetable for a public referendum on a set of constitutional amendments.

The amendments were approved on Tuesday by 531 out of 554 Parliament members. Subsequently, the NEA finds itself obliged, according to law, to announce the referendum within 30 days. Many reports claimed that the referendum will be held next week.

According to information obtained by Egypt Today, the number of registered voters, according to the databases, is 61,344,503; the number of male voters is slightly bigger that those of females. The voters can cast their votes in 13,919 polling subcommittees. Over 15,000 judges will supervise the voting process, according to the information.

Mahmoud al-Sherif, the deputy head of the NEA told Egypt Today that the referendum will take place over three consecutive days to facilitate the voting process for the voters.

During the referendum days, the voters who are residing in governorates that are not stated in their national IDs can till vote in any of the polling stations without prior registration, such as in the presidential elections, Sherif said.

The approved amendments expand each of the two presidential terms allowed for any president to six years instead of four, while a separate transitional article gives an exceptional right to incumbent President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who was re-elected in 2018, to run for a third 6-year term after he finishes his second term in 2024 instead of 2022.

The amendments also give the president the right to choose heads of courts, judicial bodies, the Supreme Constitutional Court, and the Attorney General, Egypt's top prosecutor from some nominees. He would also appoint one third of the members of the Shura Council, which was revived, this time under the name "The Senate.”

Before vote: Know about powers granted to president by constitutional amendments

CAIRO – 16 April 2019: The parliamentary legislative subcommittee, headed by Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal, approved on Sunday a set of proposed constitutional amendments.

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Additional reporting by Amr Mohamed Kandil