Egyptian MPs introduce bill to extend Sissi’s rule

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)