CAIRO — Egyptian lawmakers put forward constitutional changes that would allow President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to extend his rule beyond 2022, two of them say.
The bill submitted to speaker Ali Abdel Aal calls for several amendments to the constitution, including on the duration of presidential mandates currently limited to two four-year terms.
The lawmakers who put forward the amendments hope to extend the length of mandates to two six-year terms, which they say would allow Sissi to run for the presidency two more times after his second term expires in 2022.
That could see the former military chief ruling over Egypt until 2034.
The parliament’s website says speaker Abdel Aal had received a “request from a fifth of the elected representatives (120 deputies out of the total 596) to amend certain articles of the constitution.”
That number fulfills the quorum required for such a request.
Sissi was elected for the first time in 2014, after ousting his predecessor, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi. The former army head was re-elected in 2018 with 97 percent of the vote.
The vast majority of the current parliament supports the Sissi government, with only around 10 lawmakers making up the opposition.
— AFP
In this photo from February 22, 2015, provided by the Egyptian Presidency, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi waves during a visit to the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt. (Egyptian Presidency via AP, File)
Is our live election coverage important to you?
Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the 2026 Israeli election? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock to report political developments as they unfold;
Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and podcasts; and
Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including our DocuNationstreaming film series and weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
