Egypt's new parliament 'likely' to convene on Jan. 10 - MENA

Tuesday 29-12-2015 02:06 PM
Egypt's new parliament 'likely' to convene on Jan. 10 - MENA
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CAIRO, Dec. 10 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's House of Representatives will "likely" convene on Jan. 10, Egypt's minister for legal affairs and the House told state news agency MENA on Tuesday.

Minister Magdy al-Agati said the legislature will convene after Coptic Egyptians celebrate Coptic Christmas, which is observed on Jan. 7, annually.

The long-awaited first session of parliament was expected to be held before the end of 2015. But before it convenes, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi must make appointments, which are expected to be announced any minute.

The House is comprised of 596 members, 448 are individual candidates, 120 elected through lists and 28 appointed by the president. 

The elections were conducted over the course of two months, kicking off on Oct. 17 and concluding earlier this month.

The House will feature one large bloc, founded by ex-military intelligence general Sameh Seif Alyazal  the "Coalition to Support Egypt". The coalition first went by the name, the "Coalition to Support the Egyptian State" but later rebranded itself.

State-run Al-Ahram newspaper said earlier in December that the coalition consists of 400 House members, constituting more than two thirds of parliament.

The House is the first legislature elected since 2012, when a top Egypt court dissolved the People's Assembly, the lower house of parliament. At the time, Egypt had a bicameral legislature but even the upper house, the Shura Council was dissolved in 2013.

During the absence of a parliament, the president held legislative powers, on condition that upon the election of a new parliament all the legislations passed by the president should be discussed and approved by the House within 15 days of its commencement, according to article 156 of the Egyptian constitution.

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