A group of lawmakers on Sunday submitted a petition to extend the presidential term to six years, a move that would allow Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to stay in office at least until 2024.
“Four years isn’t enough,” Mahmoud Badr, one of the proposal’s sponsors, told talk show host Amr Adib late Saturday. About 125 of Egypt’s 596 legislators had signed the petition, and they’re still debating whether the change would affect El-Sisi’s second term alone or apply retroactively to his first term, Badr said.
Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said Sunday he had referred the petition to committee. The term extension would have to be approved by parliament and in a national referendum because it would require a constitutional amendment. El-Sisi’s current term is to expire in 2022.
Momentum has been building for some time to either remove the current two-term limit or extend the length of the terms. A separate petition is currently before a Cairo urgent matters court.
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