The politics of Egypt is based on republicanism, with a semi-presidential system of

government. Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, and the resignation of President Hosni
Mubarak, executive power was assumed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which
dissolved the parliament and suspended the constitution. In 2012, Mohamed
Morsi was elected as Egypt's fifth president but was deposedby army chief General Abdel Fattah
el-Sisi who was subsequently elected as Egypt's sixth president in 2014.[1]
Contents
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1 Presidency

2 Legislative Branch
o

2.1 The Peoples Assembly (Maglis El-Shaab)

2.2 The Consultative Council (Maglis El-Shura)

2.3 Parliamentary elections

3 Military Council

4 Political parties and elections

5 Civil society

6 Political pressure groups and leaders

7 Foreign relations

8 References
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8.1 Bibliography
9 External links

Presidency[edit]
Main article: President of Egypt
Under the new regulations of the March 2011 referendum, the president is limited to two fouryear terms, with the Judiciary supervising the elections. The president is required to appoint a
deputy, and a commission will draft a new constitution following the parliamentary election.
Candidates must provide 30,000 signatures from at least 15 provinces, or 30 members of a
chamber of the legislature, or nomination by a party holding at least one seat in the legislature. [2]
Following the convening of the newly elected Peoples Assembly and Maglis al-Shura in March
2012, a committee was to draft a new constitution to replace the pre-revolutionary one, followed
by presidential elections. However, the Egyptian presidential election, 2012 occurred without a

new constitution. The military council, which took power in early 2011, promised a fair and civilian
vote. The first round of the election took place on 23 May and 24 May 2012. [3][4] It was followed by
a run-off on 16 June and 17 June[5] whichMohamed Morsi won. He assumed office 30 June 2012.
On 3 July 2013, the constitution of Egypt was suspended and Morsi was ousted from the
presidency. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was elected in the 2014 presidential election.[1]

Legislative Branch[edit]
Main article: History of Parliamentary life in Egypt
Parliament meets for one eight-month session each year; under special circumstances the
President of the Republic can call an additional session. Even though the powers of the
Parliament have increased since the 1980 Amendments of the Constitution, the Parliament
continues to lack the powers to balance the extensive powers of the President.

The Peoples Assembly (Maglis El-Shaab)[edit]

The House of Representatives is the principal legislative body. Out of the assemblys 567
representatives, 540 are directly elected while 27 may be appointed by the President (though the
law is not yet approved by the president).[6] The assembly sits for a five-year term but can be
dissolved earlier by the President. All seats are voted on in each election. Four hundred seats
are voted on using proportional representation while the remaining forty-four are elected in local
majority votes. The Constitution reserves fifty percent of The Peoples Assembly may force the
resignation of the executive cabinet by voting a motion of censure. For this reason, the Prime
Minister and his cabinet are necessarily from the dominant party or coalition in the assembly. In
the case of a president and assembly from opposing parties, this leads to the situation known
as cohabitation.
The People's Assembly was dissolved with the abrogation of the constitution in February 2011.
The first round of new elections is scheduled to start on 28 November 2011, the second round
was held on 14 December 2011, the third on 3 January 2012 and the new assembly convened
on 17 March 2012.[7] Nomination for the elections started on 12 October 2012. 70% of the 498
parliamentary seats will be based on the party list system and the remaining 30% through
individual-candidate voting, according to official news agency MENA. "Egypt will be divided into
60 constituencies in accordance to the decree, 30 for the party lists system in which each list
must include at least a woman candidate while the other 30 for the individual-candidate system
in which the candidate shouldn't be affiliated to any political party."[8] The reservation of 30 seats
simple majority seats for independent candidates is controversial.[7]

The Consultative Council (Maglis El-Shura)[edit]

The Shura Council was the 264-member upper house of Parliament created in 1980. In the
Shura Council 176 members were directly elected and 88 members were appointed by the
President of the Republic for six-year terms. One half of the Shura Council was renewed every
three years.

The Shura Council's legislative powers were limited. On most matters of legislation, the Peoples
Assembly retained the last word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses.
The Shura Council was dissolved with the abrogation of the constitution in February 2011. After
the 2011 Egyptian revolution, three round elections for the new 270 seat Shura Council started
on 29 January 2012 and ended on 11 March 2012.[7][8]
The Shura Council was removed from the draft copy of the 2014 constitution. [9] The abolition of
the council has been finalized with the passage of the constitution.[10]

Parliamentary elections[edit]
There were eighteen recognized political parties from across the political spectrum. The
formation of political parties based on religion is prohibited by the Constitution. The official
opposition and political pressure groups, like the Muslim Brotherhood, were active in Egypt and
made their views public. They are represented at various levels in the political system. Prior to
the revolution, power was concentrated in the hands of the President of the Republic and
the National Democratic Party which retained a super-majorityin the People's Assembly.
The November 2000 parliamentary elections were generally regarded to have been more
transparent and better executed than past elections due to judicial monitoring of polling stations.
Opposition parties continued to complain about electoral manipulation by the government, and
many Egyptians felt their votes were monitored by poll workers, and could face retribution. There
were significant restrictions on the political process and freedom of expression for nongovernmental organizations, including professional syndicates and organizations promoting
respect for human rights.
With the abrogation of the constitution in February 2011, parliament was dissolved. [11] Many new
political parties formed in anticipation of running candidates in the Egyptian parliamentary
election, 20112012.
Below the national level, authority is exercised by and through governors and mayors appointed
by the central government and by popularly elected local councils.

Military Council[edit]
Main article: Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
Following the 11 February 2011 resignation of president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt came under the
authority of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, commonly referred to as the Military
Council. It was headed by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The council was intended to
be transitional, surrendering its state powers to the president following the election in May.