Egypt's parliamentary majority 'Support Egypt' coalition will submit on Sunday a bill on the formation of the Senate, Egypt's new second legislative chamber, as well as amendments to the articles of the House of Representatives law, a statement by the coalition said on Saturday. MP Abdel-Hady El-Qasaby, leader of the majority bloc, said that the Senate draft law and the amendments to the parliament law are "in line with stipulated constitutional requirements and consistent with legal standards." Egypt's constitutional amendments, passed in a public referendum in April 2019, state that the Senate will be formed to bring the country back to the two-house system. According to the bill from the pro-government Support Egypt parliamentary bloc, the Senate is due to be composed of 300 members, one-third of whom are elected by the individual system, one-third by the list system, and the last third by presidential appointment. Article 250 of Egypt's constitution states the number of Senate seats must be no less than 180, but does not set a maximum. The senate's term lasts for five years. The coalition leaders, the statement says, confirmed that the amendments to the parliament law maintain the current number of members, so that 50 percent of them will be elected according to the list system and the other 50 percent will be elected through the individual system. Last year's constitutional amendments stipulated that the members of the House of Representatives "should not be less than 450 members." The current number is 596 members. The statement added that the draft amendments of the parliament law also stipulate that the constitutional conditions are in place regarding the number of seats allocated for certain categories, the foremost of which is the 25 percent for female candidates. Last year's constitutional amendments necessitate that at least 25 percent of seats be reserved for women representatives. The current parliament legislative season (2019-20) is its final season and new elections are due to be held at the end of 2020. The elections of the Senate are also planned to be held this year.
