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Egypt MP demands Sisi be made president for life

June 18, 2020 at 1:06 pm

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo, Egypt on 2 June 2018 [Egyptian President Office/Apaimages]

An Egyptian MP has demanded that Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi be made president for life, according to Masrawy.

Member of the House of Representatives, Badawi Abdul Latif, made a speech to parliament on Tuesday in which he said that Al-Sisi has played a major role since he assumed the presidency and that he has achieved remarkable progress.

Latif also praised the role of the Egyptian army which is among the top ten in the world.

Since Al-Sisi assumed power following a military coup in 2013 he has consistently sought to consolidate power, aided by a parliament which is dominated by politicians loyal to the general.

In 2019 it was announced that Egypt’s constitution would be amended to allow Al-Sisi to remain in office until 2030 after authorities claimed that a referendum gave them 89 per cent of support.

READ: COVID-19 patient jumps to death from Egypt hospital window

The amendments also consolidated Al-Sisi’s control over the judiciary and gave the military a greater role in politics.

In April Sisi issued a decree extending the state of emergency across the country due to the health situation, after the virus outbreak in the country.

The parliament approved measures to the Emergency Law which allocated the president 18 new powers allegedly to confront the pandemic but which actually widened his powers to choose and appoint the military prosecution to investigate crimes.

Under the new amendments Al-Sisi could restrict public meetings, celebrations and demonstrations.

There are some 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt who are systematically tortured and denied health care, a serious escalation of human rights abuses that has taken place under the Sisi administration.

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Huge numbers of death sentences have been issued in mass trials.

The idea of Al-Sisi remaining president for life as human rights abuses continue to escalate will be extremely concerning for thousands of people.