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Egypt's parliament opens Sunday morning, ending 4-year hiatus Lawyer Bahaaa Abu-Shoka, 77, as the oldest parliamnetarian, is the speaker of the first session until the rest of the MPs elect a speaker and two deputies
Egyptian parliamentarians have gathered inside the House of Representatives building in downtown Cairo to take the oath and begin the first session, ending a four-year hiatus. The parliament, scheduled to begin at 9 am Cairo Local Time (CLT), was 10 minutes late opening. This is Egypt's largest parliament to date. The MPS are divided into 448 independents, 120 party-based deputies, and 28 presidential appointees. Lawyer Bahaaa Abu-Shoka, 77, is the oldest parliamentarian, thus, according to parliament's law, will be the speaker of the first session until the rest of the MPs elect a speaker and two deputies. Abu-Shoka was appointed to the House of Representatives by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, as one of the 28 presidential appointees. The meeting is the first of its kind after the country's two previous parliaments were dissolved — the first in February 2011 and the second in June 2012 — and after former president Mohamed Morsi was ousted from office in July 2013. The meeting also represents the completion of the third stage of a political roadmap adopted since the removal of Morsi. The other stages included the passing of a new constitution, in January 2014, and the election of a president, former army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, in June 2014. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/180543.aspx