Next Sunday, the parliament will discuss 340 laws, passed in its absence. These include new legislations, presidential decrees that are invested with the force of law, and recent international protocols ratified by the Egyptian government.
According to Article 156 of the constitution, the parliament must review all 340 pieces of legislation within 15 days of the parliament’s convention.
Protest Law is outside current parliamentary framework
The Protest Law, which has caused controversy since its issuance in November 2013, and according to which hundreds of youth have been imprisoned, is not included among the laws that will be reviewed by the parliament within the 15 days.
Furthermore, this applies to all laws passed by former interim President Adly Mansour, under a constitutional declaration that was in place before the constitution was passed in a referendum on 18 January 2014.
This information was confirmed by legal experts during a press conference held by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) Tuesday.
Constitutional expert Shawky El-Sayed explained that Mansour’s constitutional declaration delegated the legislative power to the president of the country in coordination with the prime minister.
“There was no mention of the parliament in it, unlike in the constitution where it was clearly mentioned,” El-Sayed told Daily News Egypt Wednesday.
Parliament’s committee will be completely replaced after new code of conduct
The parliament formed 19 committees Tuesday and appointed their heads and deputy heads. However in two weeks, the new heads and deputy heads will be elected by election and the number of committees will increase.
According to Deputy Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Refaat Al-Komsan, all this depends on the new code of conduct, which will be discussed and passed by MPs. “In the new code, internal committees could increase from 19 to 25 committees,” he told Daily News Egypt Wednesday.
The committees were established to enable the parliament to efficiently review the 340 laws issued during the absence of an official parliamentary body.
After the broadcast ban, MPs claim “private” session went “very smoothly”
The first parliamentary sessions were messy and its disorder was seen by the entire country in a live television broadcast. Without preamble, Parliamentary Speaker Ali Abdul Aal announced Monday that the live broadcast of the parliamentary sessions would stop upon a request from MPs, due to the “inappropriateness of some members”.
The first “off air” session took place Tuesday and MPs have been speaking in the media about “how smoothly and organised the session unfolded”. Al-Komsan told Daily News Egypt that he heard the same from MPs he met.
Voting is by “applause”
According information gleaned from the live television broadcasts in the first two days of parliamentary sessions, Abdul Aal decided whether legislation under review would be passed or declined based on the intensity of MP applause.
It was later revealed that MPs cannot use the new electronic voting system until a new code of conduct is passed. Al-Komsan, who confirmed the information, said the electronic voting can only apply on yes or no issues.
It was therefore not possible to use it during the election of the parliamentary speaker and two deputies. As such, voting takes place by raising hands or “applauding”, according to Al-Kmosan.
The notorious Mortada Mansour heads Human Rights’ committee
Noted for his sharp tongue, his fierce condemnation of the 25 January Revolution, and his strident opposition to Egyptian youth, Mortada Mansour was appointed as the temporary head of the human rights’ committee in the parliament.
This comes while a wide range of laws that address citizens’ human, political, social, and economic rights await discussion and review by the committee.
