As Egypt's new People's Assembly meets for the first time after the 25 January Revolution, Nader Habib traces the history of this representative institution Although shura (consultation) lies at the heart of the Islamic political tradition, the idea of a representative body of elected officials conducting oversight of the executive and passing laws is a relative new development. The French brought the seeds of this idea to Egypt when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the country in 1798. Having terminated the authority of the local Mamluk leaders, the French authorities in Egypt created a local council to help them implement their policies. Members of this council included Al-Azhar-educated scholars, such as Omar Makram, Mohamed El-Sadat and Abdallah El-Sharqawi. Following the French withdrawal, Egypt's new ruler, Mohamed Ali, set up a High Council (maglis ali) in 1824 to help him run the country, some of whose members were elected. According to the regulations governing this new council, its main job was to discuss domestic policies proposed by Mohamed Ali. The later Advisory Council (maglis al-mashura), which replaced the High Council in 1829, was chaired by Ibrahim Pasha, Mohamed Ali's son. It consisted of 156 members, among them 30 senior officials and religious leaders, 24 local governors, and 99 dignitaries. Only the latter were elected. Mohamed Ali consulted the council on a wide range of issues, but his successors, Abbas Helmi I and Said Pasha, did not care much for the body and allowed it to fall into disuse. It was only later in the century with the rule of the Khedive Ismail that Egypt's parliamentary tradition revived. As part of his bid to turn Egypt into a modern country, Ismail set up a Representative Consultative Council (maglis shura al-nuwwab) that had 76 members who were elected every three years. At the opening session of the Consultative Council, Ismail told the council's members that "my late grandfather [Mohamed Ali] found Egypt lacking in amenities and its people wanting for security and comfort when he took power, so he focused his efforts on providing security for the country's inhabitants and modernity to the country, creating the means needed to accomplish these things with God Almighty guiding him in his efforts to develop every part of the country." "My father [Ibrahim Pasha] helped him throughout his life, and when he took power he followed in the footsteps of his father by continuing these worthy efforts with all earnestness. Had he lived longer, he would have completed his mission. Then the country's government came into my hands through God's will, and I have done my best to continue efforts to bring progress and modernity to Egypt, may God assist my purposes." "I have often thought of creating an advisory council in Egypt, since it cannot be denied that policy should be made by consultation between ruler and subjects, as is the custom in many other countries. In the Quran, God says 'consult them in the matter' and 'they consult among themselves.' It is with this in mind that I open this council, in which matters of domestic benefit can be discussed and prudent views exchanged. Its members are to be elected by the people, and it is to meet for two months each year." Due to foreign pressures, Ismail was removed from office in 1879 and replaced by the Khedive Tawfiq. Over the years that followed, there was increasing resistance to foreign intervention in Egypt, both in the army and in the fledgling parliament. On 7 February 1882, members of the Consultative Council put forward new proposals for the country's political system. According to these, the council would be elected every five years, and each member would receive a salary of 100 Egyptian pounds per year, while retaining the right to engage in other types of business. Members of the council would also be immune from arrest or prosecution, unless the council as a whole gave its consent. The council's role ended with the Orabi Revolution in 1882 and the subsequent British occupation of Egypt. The British issued laws creating regional councils (magalis mudiriyat), a General Assembly (al-gamiya al-omumiya) and a Consultative Legal Council (maglis shura al-qawanin). In July 1913, a new Legislative Assembly (al-gamiya al-tashreiyaa) was set up with a mandate to review legislation proposed by the government and itself to propose laws. The first campaign speech in Egypt's parliamentary history was made by Saad Zaghloul Pasha, Egypt's future prime minister, when he told electors that "if my compatriots decide to elect me as their representative, I promise to work hard in their service, find out about their problems and persuade my parliamentary colleagues to support me in proposals I will make to the government." The first Legislative Assembly convened in January 1914 and was chaired by former finance minister Ahmed Mazloum Pasha. When World War I broke out later in the same year, Britain declared Egypt to be a protectorate and replaced the Khedive Abbas Helmi II with Sultan Hussein Kamel. The Legislative Assembly ceased to meet. As soon as the war ended, three members of the assembly, led by Saad Zaghloul, demanded permission of the British authorities to travel to Paris to present Egypt's case for national self-determination at the Versailles peace conference. The British refused the request and instead exiled Zaghloul and his colleagues to Malta, leading to the 1919 Revolution against British rule. Over the years that followed, Zaghloul emerged as the country's leading politician, and his party, the Wafd, became Egypt's most important political party. Negotiations between the Wafd and the British failed to bring Egypt the independence it craved, though semi-independent status was established in a declaration issued on 28 February 1922. Shortly afterwards, a committee of 30 people was formed to write a new constitution for the country. While the work of this committee was widely criticised at the time, the 1923 Constitution that it wrote remains perhaps the most prestigious of all Egypt's constitutions down to the present day. The bicameral parliament formed under the 1923 Constitution met for the first time in 1924. At the opening session, King Fouad took a constitutional oath that ran as follows: "I swear by Almighty God to respect the constitution and the laws of the Egyptian nation and to protect the independence of the country and the security of its territory." The parliament then passed several decisions including laws to withdraw Egyptian currency reserves from the Bank of England, to offer loans to cooperatives to stimulate the cooperative movement, to make money available to build schools and create teacher-training facilities, to finance the "appreciation of the fine arts," to redistribute government land to small farmers, and to give preference in public procurement to Egyptian agricultural and industrial products. An audit department was created to oversee government spending, and government funding was made available to local charities and NGOs. On 11 August, 1924, the king ratified the elections law, which allowed all citizens to vote subject to various restrictions based on education or wealth. Despite these promising developments, Egypt's nascent parliamentary life came to a sudden halt on 23 March, 1925, following the assassination of Sir Lee Stack, the British-born Egyptian army commander and governor-general of the Sudan. The British forced the government led by Saad Zaghloul to resign, and the parliament was dissolved. Later, the 1923 Constitution itself was abrogated in 1930, with another replacing it. In 1935, this was revoked and the 1923 constitution reinstituted. After the 1952 Revolution, the first republican parliament, named the National Council (maglis al-omma) was convened on 22 July, 1957. Following unity with Syria in 1958, a new constitution was written and a joint parliament formed. In March 1964, after unity with Syria collapsed, a transitional constitution was issued and a new National Council formed. When president Anwar El-Sadat came to power after the death of president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, he instructed the parliament to write a new constitution. Following a referendum, this constitution of 11 September 1971 went into effect. Parliamentary elections followed, and the country's first People's Assembly (maglis al-shaab) met on 11 November 1971. After another referendum on 19 April, 1979, an upper house of parliament, the Shura Council (maglis al-shura) was created, thus resuscitating the tradition of a bicameral parliament. The most recent chapter in this long history of parliamentary representation in Egypt is the new post-revolutionary People's Assembly, which convened on 23 January, 2012. Whether this new parliament will live up to its distinguished forbears is a question that will soon be answered. The committee that wrote down the 1923 constitution convened on 11 April 1922. The room where they first laid the foundation for the constitution now holds the name of the " Constitution Hall". Although the committee was comprised of 32 members, it became known as the Thirty Committee. They faced wide criticism from the public, yet in six months and half they produced the cornerstone of the legislative life in Egyptian history. The 1923 constitution re-introduced the two houses of parliament to the Egyptian political life, however it was cancelled in 1930 and replaced by another
