After months of heated debates and refusal from different political parties and NGOs, on Tuesday the Egyptian parliament passed the controversial Civil Services Law, with 401 members approving, six abstaining, and 26 refusing.
The law is to be sent to the president and is expected to be published in the official newspaper of the republic.
During Tuesday’s session, which marked the first day in the second parliamentary round, some articles of the law were briefly discussed. Parliamentary speaker Ali Abdul Aal said that no further articles would be discussed, as “several attempts […] have been made to block the passing of the law”.
One of the coalitions that refused the law was the 25-30 coalition. Member of parliament Hayithim Al-Hariri said the law is “bad and unfair to employees when it comes to their financial rights”.
Considering its passing, the parliament approved two long-debated articles, which regulate an annual incentive and the appointment of temporary and seasonal employees. The parliament also approved an annual salary increase of 7% instead of 5%.
Labour unions have rejected the new percentage, as it “does not account for the rate of inflation in accordance with the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) estimates,” media coordinator for the Tadamon Coalition Wael Tawfik previously told Daily News Egypt.
Labour unions have attempted to submit self-drafted Civil Service Law amendments to parliament, but those have been consistently rejected.
