A third term? Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) giving a speech during his swearing-in ceremony for a second four-year term in office, at the parliament meeting hall in the capital Cairo, last June. (AFP)
Hasaballah referred to political, economic and security challenges that make Sisi remaining in office a necessity.
CAIRO – A senior parliamentary official said the Egyptian parliament would consider demands to amend the constitution and change presidential term limits, which could allow Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to extend his time in office beyond 2022 when his current term ends.
“Amending the constitution is a must now, given the huge challenges facing our country,” MP Salah Hasaballah, the spokesman for parliament, said.
Hasaballah’s remarks were made shortly after well-known Egyptian journalist Yasser Rizk wrote an opinion article calling for Sisi to be given more time in office. Writing December 29 in Egypt’s al-Akhbar newspaper, Rizk, a former Sisi speechwriter, said the constitution had been drafted in haste and called for Article 140 of the constitution to be amended.
Article 140 states: “The President of the Republic shall be elected for a period of four calendar years, commencing from the day following the termination of the term of his predecessor. The President may only be re-elected once.”
Calls for lengthening presidential terms started even before Sisi was re-elected last March and the focus on changing the constitution seems not to be on withdrawing the two-term limit but increasing the length of each presidential term. Rizk called for a presidential term to be increased to six years, meaning that, if passed, Sisi could remain in office until 2024 without facing re-election.
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