Egypt’s parliament to take provisional vote on proposed constitutional amendments

The secretary-general of Egypt’s parliament Ahmed Saadeddin announced Sunday that plenary meetings will be held on Wednesday morning to take a provisional vote on a report prepared by the general assembly on proposed constitutional amendments.

The amendments aim to increase the length of presidential term from four to six years, appoint a vice president, amend regulations on the judiciary and recreate a second upper house by the name of the Senate.

“The provisional vote has been scheduled for 17 February, but parliament speaker Abdel-Aal decided that it would be held on Wednesday morning at 10am,” said Saadeddin.

If approved in principle, the 26-page report on the amendments will be referred to the constitutional and legislative affairs committee to be discussed in detail in hearing sessions.

Most political forces have declared their support for the amendments, which were proposed by 155 MPS affiliated with the Support Egypt majority bloc.

A report by parliament’s general committee recommended that the proposed amendments be approved in principle.

Source: Ahram Online