Egypt's Parliament, headed by Ali Abdel Aal, approved on Tuesday a request by the house's fifth members to amend some articles of the 2014 Constitution, according to an official statement by parliament. The proposed amendments will be sent to parliament's legislative and constitutional affairs committee to be discussed in detail in hearing sessions that should not exceed two months. The statement was divided into five sections, including constitutional references to the amendments request, the targeted constitutional articles, whether the request aligned with the constitution, a justification for the proposed amendments, and the parliament's general committee's opinion in the issue. The general committee's opinion relied on articles 142 and 134 of the parliament's bylaws. The proposed amendments came as follows: First, supporting the parliamentary representation of women, youths, Christians, people with special needs and Egyptians in the diaspora. There are currently 90 female MPs (12%) in parliament, the highest in Egypt's history. Second, the establishment of a second chamber of parliament, the creation of the post of vice president to assist the president in his duties, and increasing the length of presidential terms from four to six years. Third, reforming the selection of judicial authorities and creating a coordination council for judicial authorities to be headed by the president; and changing the way the minister of defence is appointed. Fourth, deepening the role of the armed forces so that one of its objectives would be to ensure the civility of the state. Fifth, suspending articles 212 and 213 concerning the establishment of the National Press Authority and the National Media Authority.
