Egypt parliament to vote on charter change

By Viola Fahmy

CAIRO (AA) – Egypt's parliament began a session on Tuesday to vote on amendments to the country's constitution that would allow President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to remain in power until 2030.

Speaking at the session, Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal said lawmakers will finalize discussions and vote on the proposed amendments.

On Feb. 14, the parliament preliminarily approved proposed constitutional changes that would increase the duration of presidential terms from four to six years.

A total of 485 out of 596 MPs voted in favor of the proposed amendments.

According to the constitution in its current form, al-Sisi cannot run for a third term in office.

Al-Sisi was elected president the same year that Egypt’s 2014 constitution was ratified -- and one year after he led a military coup against his predecessor, Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected president.

In June of last year, al-Sisi was re-elected to a second presidential term, which is set to expire in 2022.