Egypt Mps Seek Lifting Restrictions On Re-electing The President

Egyptian MPs started a campaign to change the constitution in order to grant the president the right to be reelected.

According to Egypt's current laws, one president can only be elected twice. As the President Abdul Fettah Sisi's current term ends in 2018, the lawmakers started collecting signatures to change the related law.

If the lawmaker İsmael Nasreddin who proposed the change can get the sign of 20 percent of all MPs in the parliament, the proposal will be brought to the assembly. Two third of entire lawmakers' support in the assembly are required to take the proposal for a referendum, as it will bring about a change in constitution.

A member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Sisi had became president by overthrowing President Mohammed Mursi with a military coup following widespread protests of Arab Spring in 2013. Sisi was criticized by the human rights groups of clamping down the opposition since then. Elected again in 2014, Sisi needs constitutional change so that he can be a candidate in 2018.

Sisi himself has not made an official statement about the proposal and being a candidate or not for the next year's elections. - Cairo