Egypt’s parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved constitutional amendments that tightens President Abdel Fattah Sisi’s grip on power and could keep him in office until at least 2030. The changes are to be put to the public in a national referendum expected start as soon as April 20-22.
The amendments would lengthen Sisi’s current four-year term to six years and would enable him to run for an additional six-year term, taking him to 2030.
Amendments introduced in February could have extended Sisi’s rule until 2034 but were rejected by a parliamentary committee.
They would also grant the president new powers over the appointment of judicial officials; bolster the role of the military and create an upper parliamentary chamber.
The speaker for the House of Representatives, Ali Abdel Aal, called the change “a middle-ground option.”
“This way, I can say that the amended constitution still does not lead to any kind of inheritance of power or perpetuation of rule,” he said at a committee hearing this week.
Sisi came to power after spearheading the removal as president of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. He was elected to a second four-year term in 2018.
Sisi’s supporters say the changes are necessary to give him more time to complete major development projects and economic reforms.
His critics say they concentrate more power in the hands of a leader accused by rights groups of presiding over a relentless crackdown on freedoms.
Egypt’s 596-member parliament, which is dominated by Sisi supporters, voted 531 to 22 in favour of the amendments.
Egyptian authorities have blocked more than 34,000 internet domains in an attempt to prevent an online opposition campaign, according to the internet censorship monitoring group NetBolcks.
