Politics of Egypt

Egypt

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Egypt

Government Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Chairman Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Prime Minister (List) Kamal Ganzouri Cabinet Legislature Parliament Shura Council People's Assembly Judiciary Judicial system Supreme Constitutional Court Divisions Governorates Regions Elections Elections Presidential: 2005, 2012 Parliamentary: 2010, 2011–12 Shura Council: 2010, 2012 Municipal: 2008, 2012 Political parties Political parties Former political parties Foreign policy Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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The government of Egypt, as of January 2012, is a republic currently under military rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces after the President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak stepped down following several days of mass protests. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the People's Assembly.

Background

Egypt has been a republic since 18 June 1953. Since the declaration of the republic, four Egyptians have served as presidents. The first President to take office was President Mohamed Naguib. The fourth president was Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, the President of Egypt since October 14, 1981, following the assassination of former President Mohammed Anwar El-Sadat.

In early 2011, following the Tunisian Revolution, there was a revolution in Egypt. Mass protest compelled Mubarak, the leader of the National Democratic Party, to resign on 11 February 2011, ending his fifth term in office. He was replaced by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces headed by Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, which dissolved the Parliament of Egypt, suspended the Constitution of Egypt, and promised free, open presidential and parliamentary elections before the year's end and within six months. Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik was sworn in as Prime Minister on January 29, 2011, in response to the 2011 Egyptian revolution; he was succeeded on 5 March by Essam Sharaf, in response to continued protests.

On 19 March, a constitutional referendum was voted on and passed reforming the laws surrounding the power and election of the presidency. constitution, limiting the presidency to two four-year terms, providing judicial supervision of elections, requiring the president to appoint a deputy, calling for a commission to draft a new constitution following the parliamentary election, and easier access to presidential elections by candidates (30,000 signatures from at least 15 provinces, 30 members of a chamber of the legislature, or nomination by a party holding at least one seat in the legislature).

Presidency

Main article: President of Egypt

Under the new regulations of the March 2011 referendum, the president is limited to two four-year terms; the providing Judiciary will supervise the elections; the president is required to appoint a deputy; a commission will draft a new constitution following the parliamentary election; to get on the ballot presidential candidates will be required to provide 30,000 signatures from at least 15 provinces, 30 members of a chamber of the legislature, or nomination by a party holding at least one seat in the legislature.

Following the convening of the newly elected People’s Assembly and Majlis al-Shura in March 2012, a committee will draft a new constitution to replace the pre-revolutionary one, and then presidential elections will be held. Since the committee has up to six months to finish its work, the presidential election may not be held until the end of August 2012.

Legislative branch

Main article: History of Parliamentary life in Egypt

Parliament meets for one eight-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, the Parliament continues to lack the powers to balance the extensive powers of the President.

The People’s Assembly (Maglis El-Shaab)

The People's Assembly is the principal legislative body. Out of the assembly’s 454 deputies, 444 are directly elected while no more than 10 may be appointed by the President (article 87 of the Constitution). The assembly sits for a five-year term but can be dissolved earlier by the President. All seats are voted on in each election. Four hundred seats are voted on using proportional representation while the remaining forty-four are elected in local majority votes. The Constitution reserves fifty percent of the assembly seats for ‘workers and peasants’, (although in practice the "workers and peasants" have come to be retired military officers and internal security personnel).

The People’s Assembly may force the resignation of the executive cabinet by voting a motion of censure. For this reason, the Prime Minister and his cabinet are necessarily from the dominant party or coalition in the assembly. In the case of a president and assembly from opposing parties, this leads to the situation known as cohabitation. While motions of censure are periodically proposed by the opposition following government actions that it deems highly inappropriate, they are purely rhetorical; party discipline ensures that, throughout a parliamentary term, the government is never overthrown by the assembly.

The People's Assembly was dissolved with the abrogation of the constitution in February 2011. The first round of new elections is scheduled to start on November 28, 2011, the second round would be held on December 14, the third on January 3 and the new assembly would convene on March 17. Nomination for the elections will start on October 12. 70% of the 498 parliamentary seats will be based on the party list system and the remaining 30% through individual-candidate voting, according to official news agency MENA. "Egypt will be divided into 60 constituencies in accordance to the decree, 30 for the party lists system in which each list must include at least a woman candidate while the other 30 for the individual-candidate system in which the candidate shouldn't be affiliated to any political party." The reservation of 30 seats simple majority seats for independent candidates is controversial.

The Consultative Council (Maglis El-Shura)

The Shura Council is the 264-member upper house of Parliament created in 1980. In the Shura Council 176 members are directly elected and 88 members are appointed by the President of the Republic for six-year terms. One half of the Shura Council is 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 was dissolved with the abrogation of the constitution in February 2011. Post-revolutionary, three round elections for the new 270 seat Shura Council will start on January 29, 2012 and end on March 11.

Parliamentary elections

There currently exist eighteen recognized political parties from across the political spectrum. The formation of political parties based on religion is prohibited by the Constitution. The official opposition and political pressure groups, like the Muslim Brotherhood, are active in Egypt and make their views public. They are represented at various levels in the political system. Prior to the revolution, power was concentrated in the hands of the President of the Republic and the National Democratic Party which retained a super-majority in the People's Assembly.

The November 2000 Parliamentary Elections were generally regarded to have been more transparent and better executed than past elections. This is due to the new Law put into force establishing universal judicial monitoring of polling stations. However, these were ignored. On the other hand, opposition parties continue to lodge credible complaints about electoral manipulation by the government. Moreover, many Egyptians feel their votes are being monitored by poll workers, and could face retribution for their votes. There were significant restrictions on the political process and freedom of expression for non-governmental organizations, including professional syndicates and organizations promoting respect for human rights.

With the abrogation of the Constitution in February 2011, parliament was dissolved. On July 13 an army source told Reuters new agency that the parliamentary election would be held in November, with registration of candidates planned for September 2011. Many new political parties have formed in anticipation of running candidates in the election.

Below the national level, authority is exercised by and through governors and mayors appointed by the central government and by popularly elected local councils.

Military Council

Main article: Supreme Council of the Armed Forces

Following the 11 February 2011 resignation of president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt came under the authority of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, commonly referred to as the Military Council. It is headed by Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The council is intended to be transitional, surrendering its state powers to the president following his/her election, the date of which has not been set. The council has considerable power and, according to at least one source, has unilaterally issued a constitutional declaration giving itself legislative and judicial powers to "basically decide what the law is."

Political parties and elections

Main articles: List of political parties in Egypt and Elections in Egypt

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According to the Egyptian Constitution, political parties are allowed to exist. Religious political parties are not allowed as it would not respect the principle of non-interference of religion in politics and that religion has to remain in the private sphere to respect all beliefs. Also forbidden are political parties supporting militia formations or having an agenda that is contradictory to the constitution and its principles, or threatening the country's stability such as national unity between Muslim Egyptians and Christian Egyptians.

As of mid-2011, there were 18 political parties in Egypt.

 Summary of the 2010 People's Assembly of Egypt election results

Parties	Votes	%	2010 Seats	2005 Seats	Net Change	Seats %
National Democratic Party (Al'Hizb Al Watani Al Democrati)			420	330	90	81.0%
Independents (NDP)			53	0	53	10.2%
New Wafd Party (Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid)			6	5	1	1.1%
Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tagammo' al Watani al Taqadommi al Wahdawi)			5	1	4	0.9%
Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad)			1	1	0	0.2%
Arab Democratic Nasserist Party or Nasserist Party			0	0	0	0.0%
Liberal Party (Hizb al-Ahrar)			0	0	0	0.0%
Social Justice Party (Hizb Al-'Adala al- Ijtima'iyya)			1	-	1	0.2%
Democratic Generation Party (Hizb El-Geel al-Democrati)			1	-	1	0.2%
Democratic Peace Party (Hizb El-Salaam al-Democrati)			1	-	1	0.2%
Independents (Muslim Brotherhood - al-ikhwān al-muslimūn)			1	88	−87	0.2%
Independents (other)			15	19	4
Still in contest			4
Unelected members			10	0	0	1.9%
Total (turnout  %)			518

 Summary of the 7 September 2005 Egyptian presidential election results

Candidates, Nominating parties	Votes	%
Hosni Mubarak, National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watani Al-Dimuqrati)	6,316,714	88.6
Ayman Nour, Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad)	540,405	7.3
Numan Gomaa, New Wafd Party (Hizb al-Wafd al-Jadid)	201,891	2.8
Total (Turnout 22.9 %)	7,059,010

 Summary of the 11 June and 18 June 2007 Egyptian Shura Council election results

Parties	Seats
	1st	2nd	Σ
National Democratic Party (Al'Hizb Al Watani Al Democrati)	70	14	84
Independents	1	2	3
National Progressive Unionist Party (Hizb al Tagammo' al Watani al Taqadommi al Wahdwawi)	1	0	1
Total	72	16	88
The elections were being boycotted by the New Wafd Party and the Nasserist Party.

Civil society

See also: Emergency law in Egypt

Egyptians have been living under emergency law since 1967, except for an 18-month break in 1980. Emergency laws have been continuously extended every three years since 1981. These laws sharply circumscribe any non-governmental political activity: street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and un-registered financial donations are formally banned. Nonetheless, since 2000, these restrictions have been violated in practice. In 2003, the agenda shifted heavily towards local democratic reforms, opposition to the succession of Gamal Mubarak as president, and rejection of violence by state security forces. Groups involved in the latest wave include PCSPI, the Egyptian Movement for Change (Kefaya), and the Association for Egyptian Mothers.

Substantial peasant activism exists on a variety of issues, especially related to land rights and land reform. A major flash point was the 1997 repeal of Nasser-era land reform policies under pressure for structural adjustment. A pole for this activity is the Land Center for Human Rights.

The Egyptian Revolution of 2011, inspired by the recent revolution in Tunisia, forced the resignation of President Mubarak and the Military Junta that succeeded him abrogated the Constitution and promised free and fair elections under a new one.

Political pressure groups and leaders

The Muslim Brotherhood and the National Democratic Party are considered the best organized political groups in Egypt. Before the revolution Mubarak tolerated limited political activity by the Brotherhood for his first two terms, but then moved more aggressively to block its influence (arguably leading to its recent rise in public support). Trade unions and professional associations are officially sanctioned.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Egypt

The permanent headquarters for the League of Arab States (The Arab League) is located in Cairo.The Secretary General of the League has traditionally been an Egyptian. Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa is the present Secretary General of the Arab League. The Arab League moved out of Egypt to Tunis in 1978 as a protest at the peace treaty with Israel, but returned in 1989.

Egypt was the first Arab state to establish diplomatic relations with the state of Israel, after the signing of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty at the Camp David Accords. Egypt has a major influence amongst other Arab states, and has historically played an important role as a mediator in resolving disputes between various Arab nations, and in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Most Arab nations still give credence to Egypt playing that role, though its effects are often limited.

Former Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali served as Secretary General of the United Nations from 1991 to 1996.

A territorial dispute with Sudan over an area known as the Hala'ib Triangle, has meant that diplomatic relations between the two remain strained.

References

Bibliography

• Hatem Elliesie: The Rule of Law in Egypt. In: Matthias Koetter / Gunnar Folke Schuppert (Eds.), Understanding of the Rule of Law in various Legal Orders of the World: Working Paper Series Nr. 5 of SFB 700: Governance in Limited Areas of Statehood, Berlin 2010.

• Kassem, Maye (2004). Egyptian Politics: The Dynamics of Authoritarian Rule. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1588262472. 

External links

• Government of Egypt at the Open Directory Project
• Comparison Between Ancient And Modern Egyptian Governments at Aldokkan
• Egypt at Global Integrity Report
• Egypt: A Nation in Waiting (Al Jazeera documentary focusing on past trends in Egypt's political history and protests.)

General government sites

• Official Egyptian Government Portal
• Egyptian Investment Portal official government site
• Egypt State Information Service official government site
• The Egyptian Presidency
• The People Assembly of Egypt
• Egyptian Shoura Council