The new Egyptian parliament

Kort sammanfattning 05-02-2016

The new Egyptian legislative assembly, sworn in on 10 January 2016, is likely to be loyal to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Two thirds of members have joined the pro-Sisi 'State Support' (Da'am Masr) coalition, led by former intelligence officer Sameh Seif Alyazal. A supporter of the President, Alyazal has openly voiced his intention to limit the powers of the assembly, to weaken its ability to impeach the President. A member of the 'State Support' coalition, Ali Abdelaal, a French-educated lawyer who helped draft the constitution and the election law, was elected as speaker of the parliament. In the absence of a dominant party, it is feared that parliamentarians, the majority of whom ran as independents, will be particularly receptive to the diverse interests of big business, national security and individual constituencies. Parties that flourished after the ousting of President Mubarak in 2011 either boycotted the elections or lost to coalitions made up of former military and police officials, business leaders and their families. The party with the strongest showing in the previous elections, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, has been banned and did not participate in the polls.