Dangote refinery seeks US crude boost    Taiwan's tech sector surges 19.4% in April    France deploys troops, blocks TikTok in New Caledonia amid riots    Egypt allocates EGP 7.7b to Dakahlia's development    Microsoft eyes relocation for China-based AI staff    Beyon Solutions acquires controlling stake in regional software provider Link Development    Asian stocks soar after milder US inflation data    Abu Dhabi's Lunate Capital launches Japanese ETF    K-Movement Culture Week: Decade of Korean cultural exchange in Egypt celebrated with dance, music, and art    MSMEDA chief, Senegalese Microfinance Minister discuss promotion of micro-projects in both countries    Egypt considers unified Energy Ministry amid renewable energy push    President Al-Sisi departs for Manama to attend Arab Summit on Gaza war    Egypt stands firm, rejects Israeli proposal for Palestinian relocation    Empower Her Art Forum 2024: Bridging creative minds at National Museum of Egyptian Civilization    Niger restricts Benin's cargo transport through togo amidst tensions    Egypt's museums open doors for free to celebrate International Museum Day    Egypt and AstraZeneca discuss cooperation in supporting skills of medical teams, vaccination programs    Madinaty Open Air Mall Welcomes Boom Room: Egypt's First Social Entertainment Hub    Egypt, Greece collaborate on healthcare development, medical tourism    Egyptian consortium nears completion of Tanzania's Julius Nyerere hydropower project    Sweilam highlights Egypt's water needs, cooperation efforts during Baghdad Conference    AstraZeneca injects $50m in Egypt over four years    Egypt, AstraZeneca sign liver cancer MoU    Swiss freeze on Russian assets dwindles to $6.36b in '23    Climate change risks 70% of global workforce – ILO    Prime Minister Madbouly reviews cooperation with South Sudan    Egypt retains top spot in CFA's MENA Research Challenge    Egyptian public, private sectors off on Apr 25 marking Sinai Liberation    Debt swaps could unlock $100b for climate action    Amal Al Ghad Magazine congratulates President Sisi on new office term    Egyptian, Japanese Judo communities celebrate new coach at Tokyo's Embassy in Cairo    Financial literacy becomes extremely important – EGX official    Euro area annual inflation up to 2.9% – Eurostat    BYD، Brazil's Sigma Lithium JV likely    UNESCO celebrates World Arabic Language Day    Motaz Azaiza mural in Manchester tribute to Palestinian journalists    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



New MPs divided over constitution
Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 11 - 11 - 2015

Of the 273 candidates who won seats in the first stage of parliamentary elections, held between 17 and 28 October in 14 governorates, 266 have already collected their House of Representatives membership cards.
The House of Representatives' secretary-general, Khaled Al-Sadr, a former army general, told reporters that MPs are required to fill out membership forms, providing a detailed picture of the deputy's career and political affiliations.
On Sunday, the secretariat general, in coordination with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, successfully tested a newly installed electronic voting system.
Minister of Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Magdi Al-Agati, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Yasser Al-Qadi, and representatives of the German company that installed the electronic voting system, attended the test.
Al-Agati said the new electronic voting system will reduce the time required to process votes and ensure voting “is conducted in an accurate and transparent way.” As part of the system, MPs will be issued with smart cards to be used for voting.
While many new MPs have said they are in favour of amending the constitution, especially articles that limit the president's powers and term of office, others insist it is too early to debate the issue.
Shadi Abul-Ela, a former police officer who was elected as an independent, told reporters that presidential terms should be increased from four to five years. “Four-year terms may work in a country like the United States, but are bad for a country like Egypt which is in desperat need of stability and a strong president,” said Abul-Ela.
Article 140 of the constitution, passed in January 2014, limits presidential terms to four years and stipulates that a president can serve no more than two terms. Abul-Ela stressed that his aim is not to serve the interests of the incumbent, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi.
“We need to look at the issue in objective terms,” said Abul-Ela. “An elected president usually devotes the first year of his first term to exploring the country's problems and uses the fourth year to prepare himself to run for another term. This leaves just two years to address Egypt's host of pressing problems.”
Saeed Hassaseen, an independent MP elected by the Kerdasa constituency in Giza, agrees. “A four-year term is not enough to deliver meaningful political and economic reforms,” he said.
“The aim of Article 140 is to prevent presidents from staying in office for life and to ensure the peaceful rotation of power. The principle of a maximum of two terms in office is good but each term should be increased to five years to give the president enough time to deliver.”
Hamdi Dessouki, an independent MP from Assiut and a former member of Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), said, “The constitution should be amended, not only to increase the president's years in office but to grant the presidency greater powers.”
He continued, “The new constitution stripped the president of many powers that he should exercise so that he is able to deliver.”
Hesham Magdi, an independent MP from Beni Suef, also told reporters that Article 140 should be changed to increase the president's years in office.
Abdel-Reheim Ali, who won a closely fought seat in Giza, argues that Article 161 of the constitution, which allows parliament to table a motion of no confidence in the president, forcing new presidential elections, must be withdrawn. Ali also objects to Article 147, which obliges the president to seek parliamentary approval for any cabinet reshuffle.
“It means that whenever the president wants to change a cabinet minister or name a new one he must first go to parliament, which is ludicrous,” says Ali. “How, for instance, can a cabinet minister be changed when parliament is in its summer recess?”
Political analyst Emad Gad insisted, “It is too early to open a debate in parliament on the new constitution. The constitution is barely a year old. We need to implement it first before we can say whether or not it should be amended.”
Ahmed Mortada Mansour, the son of flamboyant lawyer and head of Zamalek Mortada Mansour and now an MP for Giza, agrees. “It is too early to say the constitution, which won the approval of 98 per cent of voters who took part in the referendum, should be amended,” he said.
Amending the constitution is a side issue, say MPs affiliated with the Salafist Nour Party.
“There are far more pressing issues,” said newly elected Nour Party official Khalifa Salah Mohamed. “Parliament needs to discuss the current government's policy statement, as is required by Article 146 of the new constitution. It must also review the host of laws issued by presidential decree during the absence of a parliament.”
Elizabeth Abdel-Messih, a Coptic woman elected on the For the Love of Egypt coalition list, said, “The most important priority is to review the performance of the government of Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.”
Abdel-Messih does not think Al-Sisi was exerting pressure to change the constitution when he said, in August, “The constitution was written with good intentions but nations cannot be built solely on good intentions.”
Said Abdel-Messih, “All he was doing was stressing that the powers granted to parliament under the new constitution must be exercised wisely.”
Former foreign minister Mohamed Al-Orabi is against any changes to the constitution. “Those asking for amendments are insulting the Egyptian people who approved it with an overwhelming majority,” said Al-Orabi.
“The priority now is to translate the constitution's articles, especially those on freedoms and rights, into facts on the ground.”
In a statement issued Monday, the House's secretariat-general said that of the 266 candidates who have obtained their parliamentary membership cards, 109 had previously served as MPs: 63 as deputies in the former People's Assembly and 46 as members of the now-defunct Shura Council.
The statement also disclosed that the Free Egyptians Party, founded by tycoon Naguib Sawiris, topped the list of party-affiliated candidates who received membership cards.
“Forty-one Free Egyptians Party candidates have now received their membership cards, followed by the Future of Homeland party with 25 MPs, Wafd with 16, People's Republican Party with ten MPs, Nour Party with eight, Nation's Guardians Party and Conference Party with seven each, Egyptian Social Democratic Party with three, Democratic Peace Party with two, and one MP each from Egyptian National Movement, Modern Egypt Party, Conservatives Party, Freedom Party, Free Egyptian Edifice Party, Egyptian Arab Nasserist Party and Misr Baladi Party.


Clic here to read the story from its source.