Egypt's Parliament Holds Plenary Session to Discuss Several Files

On Thursday, the Egyptian parliament held its plenary session to open its sixth legislative season, during which it is set to discuss a number of laws that were referred by the government during the last period.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued two decrees on Tuesday evening. The first (decree 478) is on the adjourning of parliament's fifth legislative season (on 24 August), and the second (decree 570) is on the opening meeting of the sixth legislative season on Thursday.

At the beginning of the session, the Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal called the MPs to observe a minute of silence to mourn the death of the Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, who has died on Monday.

Abdel Aal offered its deepest condolences to the family of the emir and people of Kuwait over the death of a great man whom he called as a great loss to the Arab and Islamic worlds.

He has also agreed to keep the current formation of the specific committees and office bodies due to the near end of the current parliament's tenure.

The parliament speaker, during the plenary session, referred seven decisions, which were issued by President Sisi, to the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee for discussion.

The decisions included the decree No. 443 regarding the approval of third amendment of the aid agreement signed between Egypt and the US regarding improving health conditions, the decree No. 477 regarding approval of the fifth amendment of the agreement on agricultural development, and the decree No. 483 regarding the approval of a loan contract, worth 630 million US dollars, for the third structural amendment between Egypt and the Arab Monetary Fund.

Notably, the official gazette published on Thursday Presidential Decree no.177, which ratifies the US$2.7 billion funding agreement signed earlier this year between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide economic relief to the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.

During a speech before Egypt’s House of Representatives members, the country’s Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maaet, said that the IMF considers Egypt a successful model for the economic reformation.

Parliamentary elections will be held in Egypt to elect a new House of Representatives between 21 October and 8 December.

Noteworthy, MP Mohamed Aboul Enein announced last Monday his candidacy for the 2021 parliamentary elections in the Giza constituency.

Aboul Enein’s decision comes as a response to Giza’s citizens’ calls, as they urged him to be their representative in the parliament.

Egypt completed earlier this year the final stage of its economic reform program, which was launched in 2016 after the country obtained a US$12 billion dollar loan from the Fund.

These reforms included a raft of measures, such as devaluing the country’s currency, loosening capital controls, ending energy subsidies, reforming public enterprises and overhauling monetary policy — all in a bid to restore economic stability and long-term growth.