Chronicle Editor
An Egyptian parliamentary panel has approved a proposal to amend the country’s constitution that will extend the presidential term from four years to six.
This means President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi may be able to stay in power beyond 2022, when his second term in office ends.
Parliament’s speaker Ali Abdel-Aal on Tuesday said two-thirds of the 596-seat legislature endorsed the proposed amendment.
The motion was submitted on Sunday after approval by a required fifth of the chamber’s 596 MPs, the vast majority of whom are Sisi supporters.
Abdel-Aal said on the same day that the amendments “are rooted in the interest of both the state and the Egyptian people”.
The motion would give the president the power to appoint top judges and bypass judicial oversight in vetting draft legislation before it is voted into law.
—Al Jazeera.
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