Egypt's parliament will begin its second legislative session on Tuesday in Cairo after concluding a one-month summer recess. On the parliament's agenda, is a celebration of 150-years of parliamentary life on 9 October, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. Over 16 regional and international parliament speakers will attend the event, where President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is scheduled to speak. Also in the second legislative session, the parliament could pass the long-awaited press bill and a contested civil service law that was approved in principle and was referred to the State Council to assess its constitutionality as a final step before passing the law. Parliament's first legislative session concluded in the first week of September after ratifying the long-delayed value added tax (VAT) and church building law. According to the Egyptian constitution, each elected parliament has five legislative sessions, with each session lasting a minimum of nine months. The parliament convened for the first time in January 2016, ending a four-year legislative vacuum brought about by political turmoil and legislative amendments to the parliament's election laws.
