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Le Conseil de la Choura ( chambre haute du Parlement égyptien) a approuvé jeudi la loi électorale révisée et un projet loi controversé sur les droits politiques, a rapporté l'agence de presse officielle égyptienne.
Le Conseil de la Choura a ordonné de renvoyer les deux textes à la Cour suprême constitutionnelle pour vérifier ses validations.
La Cour suprême constitutionnelle avait rejeté le 18 février le projet de loi électorale et l'avait renvoyé au Conseil de la Choura pour amendement, jugeant certains articles du texte anti- constitutionnels.
Trois jours plus tard, la Conseil de la Choura avait approuvé l'amendement du texte et le président Mohamed Morsi l'avait approuvé également mais sans en référer à la Cour suprême constitutionnelle. Plus: http://french.peopledaily.com.cn/96852/8205196.html
Heated debate erupted again among the Shura Council's Islamist lawmakers on Monday over a loan from Saudi Arabia. Salafi legislators condemn loans as a prohibited form of usury. The council ultimately approved the loan agreement for an irrigation and drainage pumps plants project between Egypt and the Saudi Fund for Development, despite objections from several members.
MPs attacked Prime Minister Hesham Qandils Cabinet and described it as a government of loans.
We reject loans, because citizens need to have dignity. The government should forget about loans and search instead for alternative solutions,' stressed Mohamed al-Hanafy Abul Enein, head of the Wafd Partys parliamentary bloc. More on: http://arabia.msn.com/news/middle-east/1749836/shura-council-approves-saudi-loan-des/
The Finance and Economic Affairs Committee at the Shura Council will hold a closed meeting on Sunday to discuss the amendments suggested by the Ministry of Finance to the banking law no. 88 of 2003. After approving the Sukuk law, the Shura Council will amend the law banking law no. 88 of 2003 in a way to pave the road for Islamic Banking which will in turn boost the national economy, said the Islamic Sharia Scholar Dr. Hussein Hamed Hassan. The Freedom and Justice Party suggested the addition of a section about Islamic banking to the banking law no. 88 of 2003 so as to raise the volume of Islamic banking to account for 35% of the total volume of the Egyptian banking sector. http://amwalalghad.com/en/business/banks/15623-shura-councils-economic-affairs-committee-discusses-amending-banking-law-no-882003.html
A group of Shura Council employees demonstrated on Wednesday in front of the Cairo office of council speaker Ahmed Fahmy.They were protesting the appointment 90 staff members they claim are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhoods Freedom and Justice Party.The protesters said it was unfair they had been overlooked for key positions and claimed they are being persecuted unfairly for serving under Hosni More on: http://arabia.msn.com/news/middle-east/1721256/shura-council-staff-protest-hiring-fj/
Hend Kortam | Daily news Egypt The presidency asserted its respect for the judiciary on Wednesday and demanded the Administrative Court explain two of the principles included in the 6 March court ruling that suspended the parliamentary elections. “The presidency asserts its full respect of the Administrative Court ruling… which led to the suspension of all of the Supreme Electoral Committee’s procedures and postponing the whole electoral process,” a statement released by the presidency read. The statement comes one day after the State Litigation Authority appealed the 6 March ruling. The appeal will be considered by the Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt’s highest court, on 17 March. Following the appeal, the presidency said it is looking forward to reviewing principles included in the court’s decision, saying that the aim behind these clarifications is to affirm its commitment to upholding court rulings. The presidency wants an explanation of Article 141 of the constitution which states that the president exercises his powers through the prime minister and cabinet of ministers which is why the court saw that the prime minster and relevant minister should have signed the law passed by the Shura Council before the law was issued by the president. More : http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/03/14/presidency-wants-court-to-explain-ruling-that-suspended-elections/
Le conseil de la choura égyptien (Sénat) a adopté, lundi, un projet de loi qui doit permettre l'émission de "sukuk", des obligations souveraines fidèles à la charia.
Le texte, retouché par le gouvernement à la suite de critiques formulées par des responsables religieux, permet à l'investisseur de recevoir à échéance régulière des profits engrangés par des actifs tangibles, le plus souvent constitués de biens immobiliers ou d'infrastructures.
L'Egypte, dont le gouvernement cherche à renflouer les réserves de devises étrangères du pays, en particulier de dollars, en chute libre depuis le renversement du régime de Hosni Moubarak début 2011, n'avait encore jamais émis ce type d'obligations.
Le ministère égyptien des Finances a fait savoir que la Banque islamique de développement islamique, un établissement international basé en Arabie saoudite, avait annoncé son intention d'acheter près de 5 milliards d'euros de "sukuk".
Pour le ministère, l'émission des "Sukuk" (certificat d'investissement) pourrait promouvoir les investissements et réaliser des bénéfices de 10 à 15 milliards de dollars annuellement.
Le gouvernement émettra les "Sukuk" à partir de juin prochain, après l'approbation de la loi par le Sénat, a précisé la même source.
The Shura Councils human rights committee asked the Interior Minister to reinstate bearded officers on Tuesday since growing facial hair is a religious right.
“Transitional justice seeks community reconciliation,” said Under Secretary Mohamed al-Azab, adding that Islamists have been isolated for the past 30 years. “That is why the ministry did not enroll bearded officers.”
Hani al-Shakery, spokesperson for the bearded officers, said the revolution had defeated the police state that had-long prosecuted Islamists.
In March 2012, then-Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Youssif demoted 17 police officers for growing their beards in violation of ministry rules related to officer appearance. The officers alleged dozens of other policemen had been suspended for the same reason and the group filed a lawsuit challenging the decision.
In November, Shura Council Speaker Ahmed Fahmy demanded that the Interior Ministry amend its regulations to allow police officers to grow beards, calling on the ministry to follow the Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed. More on: http://arabia.msn.com/news/middle-east/1353514/shura-council-requests-bearded-office/
Some members call for separating men and women during protests to prevent sexual harassment, blaming women for subjecting themselves to rape. The Shura Council Human Rights Committee addressed on Monday the recent wave of sexual harassment proliferating during mass protests, calling for specifying places of protest for females. “Women should not mingle with men during protests,” said Reda Al-Hefnawy, Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) member. “How can the Ministry of Interior be tasked with protecting a lady who stands among a group of men?”
Adel Afifi, a prominent board member of the Salafi Party Al-Asala, blamed women for the sexual harassment phenomenon. “A woman who joins protests among thugs and street inhabitants should protect herself before asking the Ministry of Interior to offer her protection,” Afifi said, adding that police officers are incapable of protecting themselves. (...) “Some foreign-funded organisations are imposing western beliefs upon us; tents present in some squares witness prostitution,”(...) “What came out of the Shura Council today is horrible,” said Sally Zohney, a women’s rights activist. “Those statements are inhumane, to say the least.” Zohney condemned the council members’ trial blaming the victim for the attacks instead of offering them help. “In facing social problems regarding assaults on women, the easy way out is always to separate them [the women] from the men,” Zohney said. “Yet, it’s disastrous to hear such solutions coming out of the Shura Council.” More on: http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/02/11/shura-council-members-blame-women-for-harassment/
The head of Egypt’s Shoura council caused a stir during a flight from Sudan to Egypt when he called on the plane’s staff to stop screening a movie featuring “Hot Scenes”, according to an Egyptian daily.
Ahmed Fahmy, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and parliament’s upper house speaker, wanted to put a stop to the screening of the movie on the flight. However, passengers on the flight rejected his requests to do so, according to the Egyptian privately owned Arabic daily Al Masry Al Youm.
A brief verbal altercation took place during the flight between the crew and the council delegation which was resolved when the captain intervened and lifted the television screens in front of the council members.
Fahmy was on a visit to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to stress the importance of revitalizing relations between Egypt and Sudan.
The speaker claimed that Egypt’s parliamentary body had established a new committee to serve mutual Egyptian and African interests in the region, reported Arab Today.net.
Magdi Hamdan, Membre du Front du Salut National (FSN) a critiqué le point modifié de l’article 5 de la loi électorale, remplaçant la condition pour le candidat « d’être né de 2 parents égyptiens », par « être né d’un père égyptien ». Selon lui, les craintes exprimées par les forces politiques civiles de voir le Conseil de la Shura s’attribuer le pouvoir législatif se sont concrétisées. Ce changement ouvrirait la voie aux Egyptiens issus de parents étrangers (tels que les juifs, les cadres de Hamas et les naturalisés) d’entrer au Parlement, ce qui représente une « menace » à la sécurité nationale. Selon Hamdan , les déclarations récentes de Essam el Arian, encourageant le retour en Egypte des juifs n’étaient pas un « lapsus » mais préparaient plutôt ce changement, qui a été activé grâce à l’amendement de la loi électorale soumis par le parti de la « Liberté & Justice ». D’autre part, Il a ajouté que les conditions exposées par le Front pour garantir la transparence des élections, comportaient une condition préalable, à savoir la démission du gouvernement de Qandil, qui a prouvé sa totale incompétence dans la gestion du pays. Nous sommes également convaincus que ces élections connaîtront des fraudes si elles se passent sous le gouvernement actuel, notamment que c’est le Ministre actuel des Conseils Parlementaires (FM) qui a proposé l’amendement de cet article. Traduction: Randa CHART انتقد مجدي حمدان، القيادي بحزب الجبهة الديمقراطية وعضو جبهة الإنقاذ الوطني، الشرط الأول الذي تضمنته المادة الخامسة بقانون الانتخابات، وهي تغيير صيغة صفة المرشح من "أن يكون من أبوين مصريين" إلى "أن يكون مصريًا من أب مصري" فقط، موضحًا أن التخوف الذي أبدته القوى السياسية المدنية من إسناد سلطة التشريع لمجلس الشورى، قد تحول إلى حقيقة مفزعة
Une commission du Conseil Consultatif visitera El Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company pour étudier sa remise en fonctionnement. Il est à rappeler que la compagnie avait arrêté ses activités en mai 2009, suite à une décision d’une Assemblée Générale. Suite à la soumission du rapport de visite au Conseil, une réunion aura lieu avec le Ministre des Investissements et celui de la Main d’œuvre et les représentants des ouvriers. Le redémarrage de la société nécessiterait environ 250 millions de LE du gouvernement.
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In a special session of Egypt’s parliament, MPs mourn cathedral clashes deaths, push for effective action to prevent violent clashes, and highlight the need for instilling a spirit of tolerance in society.Dr. Saad Emara, Chairman of the Committee for Defense and National Security at the Shura Council (the second chamber of Egypt’s parliament), confirmed that the Committee held a meeting Tuesday and discussed Cairo’s Abbasiya Cathedral clashes, in the presence of the Shura Council Speaker, and that all lawmakers, representing all parties and orientations, condemned the cathedral clashes and demanded action on the ground to prevent recurrence of such tragic events.
"Sectarian strife is a red line political action must never cross. Everyone must show tolerance.
"Extremism is a problem that afflicts Muslims and Christians alike. Wise people on both sides must urge tolerance and peaceful co-existence. Incitement of both sides by the media must be condemned and stopped without delay." More on:http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=30827&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook
The Copts Without Chains movement called on all Coptic Christians in the Shura Council on Sunday to withdraw from their positions. The movement said in a statement the Christians in the Shura Council, “out of respect to themselves and the blood of the martyrs”, should resign The statement said there is no reason for Christians to remain in the Shura Council unless they aim to “cover up the crimes committed by the Muslim Brotherhood”. Daily news Egypt More : http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/03/24/copts-without-chains-call-on-shura-council-members-to-resign/
The Jama’a al-Islamiya intends to present a plan for organizing vigilante justice committees to the Shura Council within a few days, said on Thursday Khaled al-Iskandarany, spokesperson for the group’s Construction and Development Party. The committees would be under the supervision of the National Security Council, the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the president, ensuring that the citizen justice bodies could not start imposing their own rule of law, Iskandarany assured. “We suggest the vigilantes of each district should composed be of its residents, have a uniform and wear ID tags,” Iskandarany said, adding that the committees should be funded by the state. He also said the Jama’a al-Islamiya was considering imposing a rule that the vigilantes could not be affiliated to one political party or movement. http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/jama-al-islamiya-propose-vigilante-committees-shura-council
Shura Council MPs slammed Prime Minister Hesham Qandil and his Cabinet over diesel fuel shortages and lackluster Sinai development during Tuesday’s session. Liberal Wafd Party MP Mohamed Hanafy demanded Qandil and the petroleum minister be called before the council for not doing enough to avert the fuel crisis. He also said Qandil has no charisma. But others said a charming personality was not what the country needs to move forward. “Charisma would not solve the problem,” responded council speaker Ahmed Fahmy, adding that he plans to summon Qandil and any necessary ministers. Al-Masry Al-Youm / Egypt independent More : http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/shura-council-mps-blame-qandil-cabinet-fuel-shortage
A fast-track Senate bill to avert a government shutdown stalled on Thursday under the weight of more than 100 proposed amendments as senators clamored to attach pet provisions to the must-pass measure. Senate Democratic leaders postponed further votes on the government spending legislation until Monday and said they would work over the weekend to try to whittle down the number of amendments. They had hoped to pass the measure on Thursday. The added provisions threatened to make the bill unpalatable to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which last week passed a much less complicated version of the extension to government funding through September 30. Government agencies and programs face a broad shutdown if Congress fails to pass an extension by March 27. The delay caused by the amendments leaves the Senate little time to consider the amendments, pass the bill and work out differences with the House by the time a two week recess starts at the end of next week. Lawmakers often try to attach provisions to legislation viewed as critical, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said those efforts were particularly difficult in this case. For example, he said there were five separate amendments related to Egypt that had been proposed for the U.S. domestic spending measure known as a continuing resolution, or CR. "The long-term solution to the situation in the Middle East is not a short-term CR. Whatever we do on this bill would expire in six months anyway," Reid said on the Senate floor. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski implored colleagues to withdraw their amendments or agree to have them merged with similar proposals. (Reueters, via Egypt.com) More : http://news.egypt.com/english/permalink/175778.html
Reuters, via Egypt independent An Egyptian parliamentary panel decided on Monday to draw up a new election law, aiming to avoid delays after a court cancelled President Mohamed Morsy's decree calling for parliamentary elections in April. The prospect of an election delay raised by the court ruling is something Morsy's Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties wish to avoid as they seek to draw a line under the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule. The Administrative Court referred the election law to the Supreme Constitutional Court for review, putting the 22 April start date for the four-stage vote into doubt. The decision to write an entirely new law appeared aimed at avoiding a protracted hold-up while the legality of the existing law is examined by the constitutional court. The new law which parliament's legislative committee agreed on Monday to draft would have to be put to the Supreme Constitutional Court, a process which might cause further delay. Some of Morsy's secular opponents have welcomed the idea of a delay. The main non-Islamist parties had said they would boycott the election, saying there were no guarantees it would be free and fair. The election will pick a new lower house of parliament to replace one that was dissolved last year. The Islamist-dominated upper house currently has legislative power. Morsy's opponents accused the Islamists of exploiting their influence to write a law that suited them. Khaled Dawoud, a spokesman for the National Salvation Front, an alliance of opposition groups, said: "We hope they take this opportunity to discuss any new elections law with all concerned parties in order not to end up again in the same situation with yet another flawed elections law."
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/shura-council-draft-new-law-avoid-election-delay
As was expected, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) ruled many provisions of the proposed Elections Law and Exercise of Political Rights Law, as unconstitutional.
This decision reflects the continuing state of disarray that colors the legislative process in Egypt, both in the constitutional drafting process and the passage of laws.
The SCC found that amendments to these two laws drafted by the Shura Council (the temporary parliament) were in violation of the constitution in nine points. While the Shura Council continues to move forward with the electoral law, the law is still not in line with the SCC’s rulings.
An official statement from the SCC on Thursday indicated that the changes adopted by the Shura Council do not meet the court’s complete requirements. The legal provisions declared by the SCC to be unconstitutional must still be amended.
According to Article 177 of the new constitution, the SCC’s decisions are enforceable, which means that the unconstitutional provisions must be changed. To assess the importance of the SCC decision, it is necessary to discuss some provisions that were ruled unconstitutional due to their direct impact on the electoral process. One key SCC ruling is that the distribution of seats in the House of Representatives violates the principle of fair representation according to population. Article 113 of the new constitution calls for the division of electoral districts in an equitable manner based on population. The draft law on the People’s Assembly (now known as the House of Representatives) allocated 498 total seats in the body. Two examples show what a mockery the draft law makes of the principle of equal representation based on population: The draft law allocated 30 seats to the Giza governorate, which has 4.3 million voters and has the second highest number of voters than any governorate. Meanwhile the Dakahlia governorate with just 3.7 million voters received 36 seats. Likewise, the law allocated just 24 seats to Alexandria, the fourth largest governorate with 3.3 million voters, while at the same time giving 30 seats each to Gharbia, Beheira, and Sohag – all governorates with far fewer voters than Alexandria. In another important move, the SCC also declared Article 7 of the Political Rights Law draft unconstitutional. This provision tasked Egyptian diplomatic missions and embassy staffs with supervising elections and public referendums held abroad (...) This crisis has two theoretical solutions, but both are impossible. The first is that the judiciary could supervise elections outside of Egypt, which would require judges to travel to over 160 countries in which Egyptians reside, with 585,000 eligible registered voters; it’s clear that this “solution” would be impossible to apply. More on: http://www.acus.org/egyptsource/once-again-unconstitutionality-election-law
A draft anti-protest law is expected to be discussed by the Islamist-dominated Shura Council's Committee on National Defence in the coming days. Informed sources told Ahram Online that "if approved by the committee this week, the law could be discussed by the council in a plenary meeting next Sunday."
In its meeting held today, the Committee on National Defence launched scathing attack against private TV satellite television channels, taking them to task for alledgely inciting protesters to launch violent attacks on several state buildings in recent days, notably Al-Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo's district of Heliopolis on 1 February. Deputy Interior Minister Major General Abdel-Fattah Othman complained that "police forces have not been able to fight violent street protests in recent days because there is no law that gives us the authority to do this." The government's new draft law would grant police forces a free hand to use force to disrupt and disperse streets protests, especially in the vicinity of Al-Ittihadiya Palace and other significant state institutions, such as police stations, parliament, and state ministries. The 26-article law also makes it obligatory that the interior ministry be notified of any given protest or demonstration's date, objective and site. The notification request must be submitted to the ministry five days in advance of the date of the demonstration. The interior ministry reserves the right to forbid "demonstrations" or "public gatherings and meetings" if they risk "disrupting public peace and security."
The draft law also stipulates that demonstrations or street protests be organised between 7am to 7pm, and public gatherings from 7am to 11pm. The law gives police forces rights to disrupt demonstrations or public gatherings by use of force if they are found to threaten public order. Additionally, the draft law prohibits protesters and demonstrators from chanting slogans that "might sow the seeds of sedition," or wearing black face coverings. Prosecutor-General Talaat Abdallah recently ordered police forces to arrest citizens who wear black face masks or coverings or who belong to new revolutionary groups known as "Black Bloc." The law threatens violators with one year in prison and a fine of no less than LE30,000 (around $4,000) and no more than LE100,000 (around $14,000). Ihab El-Kharat, chairman of Shura Council's Human Rights Committee, told Ahram Online that "The government tried last month to send the anti-protest law to the Shura Council to discuss it but our response was that this is not the right time to discuss this law." (...)
In response to a recent wave of deadly clashes throughout the country, President Mohamed Morsi imposed a 30-day state of emergency – including daily curfews – in the canal cities of Suez, Ismailia and Port Said. Egypt's new constitution, however, requires that the Shura Council (the upper house of Egypt's parliament) approve the move within seven days of its application. According to Article 148 of the newly-approved charter, the president of the republic can only declare a state of emergency after consulting with Egypt's cabinet. The declaration should then be submitted to the lower house of parliament within seven days. In the event that there is no sitting lower house, as is the case in Egypt now, the proclamation should be referreed to the Shura Council for approval.
The recent promotion of the Egyptian parliament's toothless upper chamber to a full-fledged legislature was the latest worrying sign that the president, Mohammed Morsi, and his Islamist allies were ushering Egypt to the threshold of a political era that critics fear could be just as authoritarian as the 29-year rule of the former leader, Hosni Mubarak. Gone, for now at least, is the mass election fraud Egyptians had endured during the Mubarak years, the wholesale torture of regime critics at the hands of his feared security agencies, and the tight control over the media. What has come in their place, however, is beginning to appear no less authoritarian: an increasingly tight grip on political power by Islamists through the use of religion as a political weapon, elaborate defamation campaigns targeting opposition leaders and media critics, the manipulation of voters through bribery or intimidation and a near total lack of transparency. Egypt's highest court was set to rule last night on whether the upper chamber, known as the Shura Council, should be dissolved. Several lawsuits argue that there were irregularities in voting last year for council seats. Yet if the Supreme Constitutional Court delays a decision, as some court observers expect, a parliamentary body long dismissed as a useless talk shop would continue to be Egypt's legislature until the spring or early summer, when a new house of deputies, the lower chamber, is due to be elected and seated.
In other words, a chamber that was elected by a mere 8 per cent of the nation's 50 million eligible voters, due to the low numbers that bothered to vote, will have an unusually powerful grip over the nation's legislative agenda. Important legislation now pending includes a new election law; a package of economic reforms to raise funds and meet International Monetary Fund conditions for a US$4.8 billion (Dh17.5bn) loan; a law regulating street demonstrations; and possibly regulations designed to curb the independent media that has been sharply critical of the president and the Muslim Brotherhood, in which he formerly served as a top official.
On the face of it, the promotion of the Shura Council is a concession by Mr Morsi to the opposition, which has been critical of the president holding both executive and legislative powers.
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