MP Ashraf Rashad, the secretary-general of Mostaqbal Watan (Future of the Homeland) Party, announced on Wednesday that he was selected as the majority leader in the Egyptian House of Representatives. Rashad became the chairman of the Mostaqbal Watan's parliamentary caucus, he wrote on Facebook. Rashad was selected by the supreme body of the party, which claimed, along with its allies, the majority in parliament's lower house. The National Unified Coalition led by Mostaqbal Watan won 316 seats (54 per cent) in the 596-seat legislative body. The new majority leader had won his seat in Upper Egypt in the elections held late last year. The newly-elected House held its first meeting, a procedural session, on Tuesday amid strict coronavirus measures. MPs took the constitutional oath in a session that was chaired by prominent journalist Farida El-Shobashy, the eldest member in the House. During the session, the MPs also elected judge Hanafy Ali El-Gebaly as the House speaker. Mohamed Abul-Enein and Ahmed Saad El-Din were elected deputies to the speaker.
