Majority bloc: Egyptian Parliament’s election bill should be finished this year

CAIRO – 17 May 2020: Secretary General of the Egyptian Parliament’s majority bloc said the House of Representatives should end drafting bills for the upcoming elections of the House and the Senate during this session, calling it a “constitutional entitlement.”

In an interview with local private newspaper Al-Shorouk, Ahmed Al-Sigini, leader of the “Support Egypt” coalition and head of the Local Administration Committee said the House may have to cancel its next leave in order to finish the vital legislations.

Sigini, however, noted that tackling the coronavirus crisis and its economic and health implications in Egypt now has the priority, saying that talks about the next election during the current situation would be “useless.”

The current Parliamentary session will end on January 9th next year, Sigini said, noting that it cannot be extended.

He affirmed that the committees’ meetings were not held during the past week after a Parliament member tested positive for coronavirus, the first case in the Parliament.

The Parliament will give a priority to the discussion of the state’s general budget, he added.

A meeting will be held with the “Support Egypt” coalition’s members following the Islamic Eid Al-Fitr’s holiday to discuss the ways to continue the sessions to discuss the Local Administration law.


The Health Ministry on Saturday said 491 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Egypt recently, bringing the total number of cases to 11719.

The ministry also reported 20 deaths due to the novel virus, bringing the total number to 612.

Also, the test results of 3,526 people turned from positive to negative, the ministry said, including 2,950 people who totally recovered. It added that 151 patients left hospitals.

On May 14, Egypt released a coexistence plan to deal with the coronavirus pandemic over the coming period. The government highlights the importance of abiding by precautionary measures while preparing to gradually resume the normal life cycle.

The plan comes as a bid to reduce the number of infections and deaths, achieve a balance between maintaining a normal life cycle and abiding by the precautionary measures, to get rid of the negative psychological effects of the outbreak, and to avoid crowds resulting from services like transportation and shopping.

Cinemas, theaters, cafes, fitness halls, and sports clubs should remain closed during the period of coexisting with the coronavirus in light of the first phase of the ministry’s plan to cope with the virus set to start at the beginning of June.

The ministry also recommended keeping the ban on weddings and funerals and suspending universities, schools, kindergartens, and nurseries.