CAIRO - Unlike the parliamentary elections for the People's Assembly (Lower House of the Egyptian Parliament), preparations for the Shura Council (Upper House) have largely gone unnoticed by the public, who are showing no enthusiasm to participate in the process. The cause is attributed to the inactive role of the Shura Council in the political decision-making process, which has made some people urge the cancellation of this council and being satisfied with the People's Assembly. The cause of this underestimation of the role of the Shura Council, whose name roughly translates into English as ‘The Consultative Council' is that it enjoys limited legislative powers. In any matters of legislation, the People's Assembly retains the last word in the event of disagreement between the two houses. In other words, the Upper House is a mere consultative body offering suggestions and advice to the People's Assembly, which could be completely ignored on taking decisions. Besides, having some 88 of the total 264 members appointed by the president of the country has weakened the work of the council, especially given that most of those persons were formerly appointed not according to their reputable experience and knowledge but to their closeness to the then ruling party. This could be a cause of many voices calling for the cancellation of the Shura Council elections, not only because of the cost to the state budget at such a critical time but also to cut short the transitional period for electing a new president and writing the new constitution, instead of forming a puppet council of no value to the whole political process. However, while we are at a stage of rebuilding our country, it might be the right time to debate the significance of the Upper House of Parliament and the way to enhance its authority and to play a more vital role in post-revolutionary Egypt. Regardless of the ruling system, the Egyptians will choose their new republic. Whether it is parliamentary or presidential or a mix of the two, there is a need to turn the Shura Council into a Senate ( a council of elders) to include the cream of well educated and experienced people and experts to decide its general strategy that should not be affected by any president or ruling party. Considering the formation of the People's Assembly with 50 per cent of the seats given to workers and farmers, it is hard to give full authority or legislation and supervision to a body, of whom half of its members are not well educated persons and lack knowledge of legislation, finance and economics. Herein comes the importance of having a real upper house of the parliament whose members are capable of drawing up draft laws and questioning the government for any shortcomings. Accordingly, it is better to delay the Shura Council election until the new constitution is written, which should give the Shura Council more authority over both the President and the People's Assembly. The matter is very simple; all that is needed, if there is belief in the importance of having a Senate with the upper hand in the country, is to review the authority given to the present American Senate or the old Egyptian Maglis al-Sheikh (council of elders), which Egypt used to have since its first Parliament created under Khedive Ismail in the 19th century until the 1952 revolution. In the US case, the (Upper) House of the Senate is a more deliberative and more prestigious body than the (Lower) House of Representatives and also enjoys certain exclusive powers, including consenting to treaties as a precondition to their ratification and consenting or confirming appointments of Cabinet secretaries, federal judges, other federal executive officials, military officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, and other federal uniformed officers, as well as the trial of federal officials impeached by the House. As Egypt is not following a federal system the least it could have is for this upper council to enjoy more authority than the lower house and the final word on legislation that need more experienced persons to revise and endorse than the half-educated persons the parliamentary elections might bring to the People's Assembly. Now that most of the Members of Parliament are Islamists, it would also be appropriate to have a real Shura Conuncil, in the Islamic way, that is to have its members selected from senior, wise and experienced persons. The question is, will these new parliamentarians who are thrilled with joy of victory after long years in opposition seat, be ready today to take such courageous decision and give up the final word to the Upper House of the Parliament? This needs far-sighted vision away from narrow personal or party interests.
