Many Egyptians are awaiting a number of crucial presidential decisions that will impact vital sectors and key state institutions. The decisions relate to the ratification of three draft laws regulating rents, criminal procedures, and the high school (Thanawya Amma) education certificate.
On 2 July, the House of Representatives gave its final approval to a government-drafted bill regulating the rents of residential and non-residential properties in Egypt. The bill sparked widespread controversy and triggered a backlash, with leftist opposition parties and the Tenants’ Coalition calling upon President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi not to ratify it “due to its disastrous impact on millions of Egyptians”.
The government amended the first version of the bill following a national dialogue held by the House, which hosted legal experts and representatives of landlords and tenants.
The final amendments extended the transitional period before terminating the rental contracts of existing residential units to seven years instead of five in an earlier draft, while the transitional period for non-residential lease contracts covering commercial and office units rented by individuals will be limited to five years.
The government also introduced a provision affirming the right of tenants negatively impacted by the bill to obtain alternative housing units in government-built projects.
Article 3 of the law states that a committee will be formed in each governorate to classify rented residential properties into three categories — premium, middle-class, and economic. The classification will be based on factors like geographical location, building condition, quality of local services available (water, electricity, and sewage), and transport.
The Tenants’ Coalition led by Sherif Al-Gaar has, however, objected to the bill and sent a letter asking President Al-Sisi not to ratify it. In his letter, Al-Gaar warned that if the bill is ratified and signed into law, it will displace millions of citizens, including poor and low-income families, the elderly, widows, orphans, and children who have lived with their families for decades in legally rented housing.
Al-Gaar cites Article 123 of the constitution, which states that the president has the right to object to draft laws passed by the House of Representatives. The president can send a law back to the House within 30 days of receiving it. If he does not ratify it or send it back within this period, it is considered to be an effective law.
Mohamed Atiya Al-Fayoumi, head of parliament’s Housing Committee, said in a TV interview that though the bill was finally passed on 2 July, the House sent it to the president just 10 days ago. “This means that we still have 20 days during which the president can ratify the law or not,” Al-Fayoumi said.
In a statement delivered on the 73rd anniversary of the 23 July Revolution, President Al-Sisi vowed that Egypt, which refuses to allow its citizens to live in slums and dangerous areas, will not allow individuals who deserve housing to fall into a cycle of anxiety about their future.
Many took Al-Sisi’s words as meaning that he is intending to sign the new rent bill into law. Al-Fayoumi said during the discussion of the bill that Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli had stated that the government will not allow anyone to be left homeless after the seven-year transitional period.
“Now President Al-Sisi’s statement is sending a message to citizens, particularly tenants, that no one will be displaced due to the law and that the government will provide all with alternative housing as long as they deserve it,” he said.
He explained that if the president does not object to the law, it will be considered effective after the end of the 30-day period (26 or 27 August). He also noted that if the president objects to the law, parliament will be invited to convene and discuss the matter.
“If parliament insists on its opinion, the law will be passed, even if the president objects,” Al-Fayoumi said.
Mahmoud Al-Assal, the Tenants’ Coalition’s lawyer, believes that the law “has become a fair accompli”, saying that the law will enter into force “regardless of whether the president ratifies it or not.”
“It is clear that there is close coordination between the government and parliament in this respect, and therefore it is difficult to backtrack on the new legislation,” Al-Assal said.
However, he believes there is an opportunity to halt the law’s implementation even after it enters into force. According to him, tenants could appeal to the Supreme Constitutional Court after the law is ratified and demand that its effects be halted due to obstacles to its implementation.
Another piece of legislation awaiting presidential ratification is the Criminal Procedures Law which was finally approved by the House of Representatives on 29 April. The 544-article law includes six sections that cover criminal prosecution, evidence collection, investigation procedures, court trials, arrests, and pretrial detention controls.
Like the old rents bill, the draft Criminal Procedures Law includes a number of articles that have sparked widespread controversy among lawyers and journalists.
Most of the criticism has been directed at Article 123, which relates to pretrial detention. The Press Syndicate said that Article 123 in its final form will not put an end to the suffering of those who are put into pretrial detention. The final draft of the article reduces the maximum period of pretrial detention for misdemeanours from six to four months, for felonies from 18 to 12 months, and for crimes that carry the death penalty or life imprisonment from 24 to 18 months.
Article 523 has been another sticking point. It states that individuals wrongly detained pending trial are entitled to financial compensation from the government but stipulates that those seeking compensation should not have been detained pending trial in other cases and have been acquitted of all charges.
Though the law was passed by the House on 29 April, it has not been yet ratified by President Al-Sisi. MP Mustafa Bakri said that “the law was approved by MPs on 29 April, but nobody knows whether it was sent to President Al-Sisi for ratification.”
“In any case, if it was sent to the president more than one month ago, it would go into effect automatically in line with Article 123 of the constitution.”
On 8 July, the final day of the House’s 2024-25 parliamentary session, MPs gave final approval to sweeping amendments to a new education law. The draft law seeks to introduce a new optional Baccalaureate certificate system without abolishing the existing Thanaweya Amma (high school) certificate.
Unlike the Thanaweya Amma, the Baccalaureate system is expected to spread the academic workload over two stages: a preparatory year (10th grade) and a main stage encompassing the final two years (11th and 12th grades). Across these final two years, students will focus on a more streamlined selection of seven subjects.
Like the two laws regulating rents and criminal procedures, the amendments to the education law have sparked considerable controversy both inside and outside parliament.
A number of opposition MPs plus human rights organisations have said the bill and its sweeping amendments were introduced without a serious national dialogue and insufficient study of its potential ramifications on millions of Egyptian families.
They have also voiced fears that the new bill will increase financial burdens on households, exacerbate inequality, and restrict fair competition among students.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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