Egypt’s Shura Council (upper house of parliament) agreed in principle on Monday on amendments to the civil society law, the state news agency MENA reported. 

The Shura Council will discuss the amendments further in upcoming sessions.

President Mohamed Mursi referred the draft law to the upper house for discussion and a vote in May.

Egyptian opposition groups had criticized an earlier draft law on NGOs proposed by the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm and argued that it was more restrictive than the one Egypt had had under Hosni Mubarak’s rule.