Egyptians walk in front of the upper house Shura Council building in Cairo, (Photo: Reuters).
The removal of the upper house of parliament from Egypt’s draft constitution to create a single chamber parliamentary system has found some support from politicians.
After a laborious five-hour meeting, members of the committee responsible for amending Egypt’s constitution agreed to scrap the legislative body by a vote of 23 to 19, effectively ending its existence if the amended constitution passes an upcoming national referendum.
“Terminating the council’s existence is a good thing and reflects the people’s will,” head of the Egyptian Socialist Party, Ahmed Bahaa El-Din Shaaban, told Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website.
Shaaban said the council’s legislative role was minimal and the council’s main purpose was as a way to appease personalities close to former regime. He also said described the body as a burden on the state’s budget.
The Shura Council institution, which was eliminated on Thursday, was the creation of late-president Anwar Sadat and came into existence via a constitutional referendum in 1979. It was maintained in the currently under-review Islamist-drafted 2012 constitution.
One third of Shura Council members were directly appointed by the president. The remainder were elected. The body had a consultative legislative role, and was also responsible for appointing the heads of Egypt’s state-owned media organisations.
Yasser El-Hodaibi, a member of Egypt’s liberal Wafd Party, said that although the party’s president El-Sayed El-Badawy had voted in favour of its continuation at the committee meeting, he supported the decision to disband the body. Like Shaaban, El-Hodaibi said that the council cost the state millions of pounds without having any legislative authority.
“Egypt doesn’t need an upper house of parliament,” El-Hodaibi said. The turnout at Shura Council elections was drastically lower in Egypt’s parliamentary elections of 2011-2012 than at elections to the lower house, the People’s Assembly.
Ahmed Emam, a spokesperson for the centrist Strong Egypt Party, told Al-Ahram that he was also in favour of this decision because he believed that Egyptian political groups don’t have have sufficient capacity to nominate competent candidates for two houses of parliament, and that it would be better to focus on one for the time being. The Shura Council’s role, he said, could be filled by other state bodies which have sufficient expertise and advisors.
In contrast, leading member of the liberal Democratic Front Party Amr Ali told privately owned news website Sada El-Balad that he is against the council's elimination, arguing that Egypt's large population, which he said was edging closer to 100 million, necessitates the existence of a bicameral system with a larger number of representatives.
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