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Since Egypt is a
semi-presidential republic, the country`s president is de
facto not only state`s head but also the government`s head.
He is also the head of a system where the National
Democratic Party.
The Egypt government also
exercises the executive power and the legislative power
(this one together with the Assembly of People).
At every 8 months every year, the Parliament of the country
has a meeting; the president can ask for more meetings if
there are any special circumstances.
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The Parliament`s
powers increased once with the Constitution`s
Amendments from 1980 but the still the president has
the biggest power.
Maglis el-Sha’ab or the Assembly of the People – is
the main legislative body. The assembly has 454
deputies from which 444 are named through direct
elections and 10 by the president, according to the
Constitution` s article 87. The 50% of the
assembly`s seats are reserved for peasants and
workers, according to the Constitution. The assembly
has a term of 5 years but the president can dissolve
it earlier. |
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The 400 of the seats are
voted through the proportional representation and the rest
of 44 through local majority votes. The executive cabinet
can resign if the People`s assembly votes a motion of
censure. This is why the prime minister with the cabinet is
from the coalition or from the dominant party. If the
president and the assembly are from opposite parties is
cohabitation. In most of the cases the censure motions are
proposed by the opposition on the actions of government.
Maglis el-Shura or the Shura Council is the Parliament` s
upper house with 264 members and was created in 1980
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The president names
88 members and the rest of 176 are directly elected;
the 88 members are named for 6 years and half of the
council is changed at every 3 years. The legislative
powers of the Shura Council are not very big. In
Egypt exists 18 political parties; the constitution
prohibits the formation of the parties that have the
religion as base. There are pressure and opposition
groups, being active and making the views public;
one of these groups is the Muslim Brotherhood. The
groups have representatives at the political system`
s levels.
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The president of the country and the
National Democratic Party has the power and the big majority
in the Assembly of the People. The mayors and the governors
exercise the authority below the national level; they are
named by the local councils (popularly elected) and by the
government. Regarding the elections and the political
parties, the constitution of Egypt allows the existence of
the parties but it doesn`t allow the religious political
parties; the reason is that the religion must stay away from
politics. More, the political parties that support the
military formations or have a program that doesn`t fit the
principles of the constitutions are not allowed. The same is
available for the parties that threat the stability of the
country.
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