Egypt's parliamentary majority Mostaqbal Watan Party (The Nation's Future) announced in a statement on Friday that it intends to propose amendments to a new controversial law regulating the documentation and registration of real estate property in public notary offices to simplify matters for citizens and ease financial burdens.

According to the statement , the party said "it has followed with utmost concern broad-scale reactions and debate on social media over the new law regulating the documentation and registration of real estate property in public notary offices."

It added that "as a result of the above and in line with our principles, which are based on meeting the needs of ordinary Egyptian citizens, the party announces that it intends to submit a proposed amendment to the law related to the documentation and registration of real estate property in public notary offices in a way that will help citizens register their real estate rights in a much simplified way and also guarantee the state's right in regulating the performance of public notary offices."

The party's statement explained that its decision to introduce an amendment to the public notary law also comes in line with the directives of the president of the republic which aim to relieve citizens of financial burdens and modernise the legislative process in a way that serves development objectives.

A number of other political parties in parliament also announced on Saturday that they support Mostaqbal Watan's initiative, saying in a statement that "there is a pressing need to amend the new public notary offices law or better postpone its implementation for at least one year."

The law, which was passed by parliament in August 2020, is scheduled to go into effect next Saturday.

MP Hesham Hussein, the secretary general of parliament's Proposals and Complaints Committee, told the media on Saturday that the majority party of Mostaqbal Watan intends to amend Article 35 of the public notary law (l186/2020), which requires citizens to pay a lot of money and follow many cumbersome bureaucratic measures in order to be able to register their real estate properties.

"This article requires citizens to pay documentation fees ranging from EGP 500 to EGP 2000 as well as a 2.5 percent property tax and in any way that will take one year or more in order to be at last able to have their property documented," said Hussein.

He added that "the article also makes it impossible for citizens to have access to electricity, water and natural gas services unless they first pay the required fees and finish the long complicated measures."

The Parliamentary Spokesperson of Al-Wafd Party Soliman Wahdan also told Ahram Online on Saturday that the party fully supports Mostaqbal Watan's initiative, agreeing that article 35 should be amended or completely scrapped.

"Article 35 of the new public notary offices law in its current form will freeze the property market, making it almost impossible for citizens to sell or buy any real estate units," said Wahdan, adding that "it is very bad and unsuitable to impose new heavy fees on citizens while they are feeling the pinch of the coronavirus crisis in their daily lives."

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