Parliament of Egypt
| Egypt |
.svg) This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Government
Legislature
Judiciary
Divisions
Elections
Political parties
Foreign policy
|
|
Other countries · Atlas Politics portal |
The Parliament of Egypt is the currently dissolved bicameral legislature of Egypt. The Parliament is located in Cairo, Egypt's capital. As the legislative branch of the Egyptian government, the Parliament enacts laws, approves the general policy of the State, the general plan for economic and social development and the general budget of the State, supervises the work of the government, and has the power to vote to impeach the President of the Republic, or replace the government and its Prime Minister by a vote of no-confidence. It was dissolved on 11 February 2011, following the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
Contents |
[edit] History and composition
Parliamentary life began in Egypt as early as 1866, and since then several forms of national assemblies have been formed, dismantled and amended to reach the present-day form. Since 1866, Egypt witnessed seven parliamentary systems whose legislative and oversight competences varied and reflected the history of the Egyptian people's struggle to establish a society based on democracy and freedom. For more than 135 years of parliamentary history Egypt witnessed 32 Parliaments whose members ranged between 75 and 458 who contributed to writing Egypt's modern political social, economic and cultural history. According to the present-day constitution, the Parliament comprises the following two legislative houses or chambers:
- The People's Assembly ("Majilis Al-Sha’ab"), a 454-member lower house.
- The Shura Council ("Majilis Al-Shura"), a 264-member upper house.
The Parliament meets for one nine-month session each year: under special circumstances the President of the Republic can call an additional session. Even though the powers of the Parliament have increased since the 1980 Amendments of the Constitution, many still argue that the Parliament continues to lack the powers to effectively balance the powers of the President.
With the 2011 Egyptian revolution the Parliament was dissolved by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on February 11, 2011.
[edit] People's Assembly
The People's Assembly is the lower house and was formed in 1971 as a result of the adoption of the new constitution. The Assembly is made up of 454 deputies, 444 of whom are directly elected while the remaining 10 are appointed by the President of the Republic. The Constitution reserves 50 percent of the Assembly's seats for "workers and farmers", one per each two seat constituency. The Assembly sits for a five-year term but can be dissolved earlier by the president. All seats are voted on in each election.
It was dissolved by the army of Egypt in 11th February 2011. Composition: 454
Term: 5 years
[edit] Shura Council
The Shura Council is the upper house. Its name roughly translates into English as "the Consultative Council". The Council was created in 1980 through a constitutional amendment. The Council is composed of 264 members of which 174 members are directly elected and the 88 are appointed by the President of the Republic for six-year terms. Membership is rotating, with one half of the Council renewed every three years. The Shura Council's legislative powers are limited. On most matters of legislation, the People's Assembly retains the last word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses. The Shura council 130-year-old building was completely burnt on August 19, 2008.
It was dissolved by the army of Egypt in 11th February 2011.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||
 |
This legislature-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
