Egyptian lawmakers have backed constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2034.
The country’s parliament on Thursday held a vote on the proposed constitutional amendments after working on them for days.
The speaker of Parliament Ali Abdelaal announced that 485 MPs out of the 596 voted in support of the changes.
The changes therefore had more than the needed two-thirds majority for them to pass.
What next?
A review of the proposed amendments will now take place before a parliamentary committee. It will then return to parliament for a second vote.
Once the second vote is secured the proposed changes will now be presented for a national referendum this year.
When the changes are backed in a referendum, al-Sisi “after the expiry of his current term, may run again” for the presidency.
In 2017 an Egyptian lawmaker, Ismail Nasreddine launched a campaign to extend presidential terms and lift restrictions on re-election.
The latest draft amendments are seen as the product of that campaign even before Sisi won the 2018 presidential election.
Sisi’s presidency
President Sisi in 2013 overthrew Mohammed Mursi, a Muslim Brotherhood official who was democratically elected as President.
That was facilitated by the 2013 mass protests against Mursi rule. He was elected president in 2014 for his first term.
In 2018 he was re-elected winning more than 97% of the vote in the election. The turnout in that election was more than 40% .
He did not face any serious challenger, after most strong candidates withdrew from the race. Sisi’s current tenure ends in 2022.
Source: Africafeeds.com
