{"id":11018,"date":"2019-02-07T11:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-07T19:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=11018"},"modified":"2019-02-07T11:08:02","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T19:08:02","slug":"egyptian-politicians-pave-way-for-sisi-to-stay-in-power-until-2034","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/02\/07\/egyptian-politicians-pave-way-for-sisi-to-stay-in-power-until-2034\/","title":{"rendered":"Egyptian politicians pave way for Sisi to stay in power until 2034"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>06\/02\/2019 (France24.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scd.france24.com\/en\/files\/imagecache\/rfi_16x9_1024_578\/article\/image\/sissi-afp-0602.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Text by: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/news-wires\">NEWS WIRES<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An Egyptian parliamentary committee on Tuesday approved proposed constitutional amendments which would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2034 and boost his control of the judiciary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>The approval is the first step needed to move forward with the constitutional changes, which are expected to be finally endorsed by parliament and then move to a referendum within a few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposed amendments were submitted on Sunday to the speaker of parliament who heads the committee that approved the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any changes need approval by two-thirds of parliament members, followed by a referendum.PlayCurrent Time0:00\/Duration Time0:00Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00Fullscreen00:00Mute<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This is a constitution made for a pharaoh,&#8221; said Mohamed Zaree of the Cairo Institute of Human Rights Studies. |&#8221;It gives a lot of authority with no accountability.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/abdel-fattah-al-sisi\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sisi<\/a>&nbsp;supporters say the changes are necessary for the stability of the country and to give the president more time to implement economic development plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The amendments include an extension of the presidential term to six years from four in article 140 of the constitution, and a transitional clause that would reset the clock, potentially allowing Sisi to stay in power until 2034, according to a draft seen by Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposed changes also give Sisi new powers over appointing judges and the public prosecutor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Critics say Sisi has led&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/egypt\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Egypt<\/a>&nbsp;deeper into authoritarianism than former president&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/Hosni-Mubarak\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hosni Mubarak<\/a>, who was toppled in 2011 after ruling for three decades under a state of emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also include amending article 200 of the constitution to add that the military&#8217;s duty is to protect &#8220;the constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature.&#8221; Some critics fear these changes will give the<br>military more influence on political life in Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Egypt\u2019s military and intelligence services play an influential role in both political and economic spheres, and have been taking a more public role since current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt\u2019s first freely-elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This could allow the armed forces to support one politician at the cost of another, said Talaat Khalil, one of 16 leftist lawmakers who held a news conference on Monday to denounce the proposed amendments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This is a big danger,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>(REUTERS)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>06\/02\/2019 (France24.com) Text by: NEWS WIRES An Egyptian parliamentary committee on Tuesday approved proposed constitutional amendments which would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2034 and boost his control of the judiciary. The approval is the first step needed to move forward with the constitutional changes,&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/02\/07\/egyptian-politicians-pave-way-for-sisi-to-stay-in-power-until-2034\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11018"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11018"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11019,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11018\/revisions\/11019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}