The Free Egyptians Party (FEP), led by business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, held a press conference Monday in which it announced the party’s legislative agenda.
“The parliament must revise nearly 300 laws issued by the presidency since 18 January 2014, the official date when the new constitution was passed,” the FEP stated in a press release.
It further provided a detailed time plan, estimating that the parliament’s opening session will be held on 1 January 2016.
In its plan, the party gives three days to elect the president of parliament and members and heads of different internal committees. Between 4 and 15 January, those committees should be done discussing and voting on different laws.
FEP said it is mostly concerned with legislations on the state budget and economic affairs, such as the investment law, legalising the informal sector, combating corruption, and others.
The party’s priorities include national security and defence measures, the industrial and energy fields, and the educational and health systems for which the constitution obliges the state to increase its allocated budget.
Wednesday was the last day for Egypt’s parliamentary elections. The Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) will soon announce results for 13 candidates for a total of 568 elected members through a combination of individual and closed-list systems. Another 28 members shall be appointed by the president.
Reviewing all legislations issued within its absence by the executive authority in Egypt is the upcoming parliament’s most challenging tasks on the table as soon as it holds its first session.
This is due to constitutional article 156 related to legal decrees issued by the president of the republic on grounds of emergency while “the House of Representatives is not in session”. It stipulated that in such situations, those decrees should be presented to be discussed and approved by the new parliament within fifteen days.
Some laws have already been determined by the constitution for the parliament to be issued fast, a law to regulate constructing and renovating churches, and a law on transitional justice.
Most political power and winning members have been putting effort into forming alliances to acquire a voting majority inside the parliament, the question of which legislations will be on top of the parliament’s agenda remains unanswered.
The constitution also stated that laws are automatically revoked if the parliament does not confirm their effectiveness during the scheduled period.
