President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has said the constitution is great but more time is needed for its goals to be achieved, state news agency MENA reported. "The Egyptian constitution was very ambitious and great but it needs more time to become effective," he said in a speech on Tuesday. There has been debate in society about the constitutionality of several draft laws, as well as current laws, including draft anti-terror legislation. "The anti-terror law is not designed to limit freedoms, but martyrs have been killed and we have to fortify the state to face big challenges," El-Sisi said. He also defended the recently issued law that grants him the right to depose the heads of financial regulatory bodies. He said he was not in a feud with anybody, nor did he seek revenge. According to the law issued on Saturday, El-Sisi can depose the heads of four state financial and regulatory bodies if they compromise national security, harm the country's interests, or are morally compromised. The four state financial and regulatory bodies are the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the Administrative Control Authority (ACA), the Accountability State Authority - the country's central auditing agency (ASA), and the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA). Due to the absence of a parliament since 2012, El-Sisi has held legislative authority since his election in 2014. Any elected parliament must review all laws issued by the president within 15 days of its convening. El-Sisi hinted during his speech that parliamentary elections would be held before the end of the year. The president was speaking on Tuesday at an iftar event organised by the presidency and the Tahya Misr fund.
