Egypt flag Egypt: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Egypt

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Abdel fattah El-Sisi (since June 2014 ; re-elected for a second term in March 2018)
Prime Minister: Mostafa Madbouli (since June 2018)
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2029
Parliamentary: 2025
Current Political Context
In December 2023, Egypt held its presidential elections amid prior speculation that they might occur sooner than anticipated. The incumbent President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who initially assumed office in the aftermath of the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, was eligible for re-election due to a constitutional amendment in 2019 that extended term limits from four to six years, ensuring he would not exceed the maximum presidential service of 12 years at the time of the election. On December 18, he was reported to have secured victory with 89.6% of the vote, and the voter turnout was stated to be 66.8% of registered voters.
Egypt continued to play a prominent role in regional diplomacy, hosting negotiations between the opposing Libyan factions and seeking to mediate conflicts in other parts of the Middle East. Nevertheless, the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza is expected to put high pressure on Egyptian diplomacy.
Main Political Parties

Out of more than 100 parties, only about 20 are under the dome of Parliament, 5 have parliamentary bodies with more than 10 deputies within the House. These parties are:

  • Mostakbal Watan (Nation's Future Party): nationalist, populist
  • Al Shaab Al-Gomhouri (Republican People’s Party): nationalist
  • Homat El-Watan (Homeland’s Defenders Party): centrist
  • New Wafd Party: liberalism, conservatism
  • Modern Egypt: centre-right, liberalism
  • Reform and Development Party: liberalism, centrist

Other parties include

  • Egyptian Social Democratic Party
  • Freedom Party
  • Conference Party
  • Al-Nour Party
  • National Progressive Unionist Party (Tagammu)
  • Justice Party
  • Eradet Geel Party.
Executive Power
The President is the Head of State and the Supreme Commander of the armed forces. He is elected for a six-year term of office. The President is the head of the executive branch and appoints the Prime Minister, who must be approved by a confidence vote in the Parliament. The President also appoints the head of the Council of Ministers. He can dissolve the Assembly and rule by decree.
In 2019 the Parliament voted to remove the limit of two terms for the President, whose term has been extended from four to six years.
Legislative Power
The legislative power is bicameral since the constitutional referendum of 2019 was approved by the House of Representatives in June 2020. It established an upper chamber called the Senate, composed of 300 seats (100 members directly elected in single seat constituencies, 100 directly elected by closed party-list vote, and 100 appointed by the president). The House of Representatives is composed of 596 members elected for a period of 5 years by universal suffrage. The President may dissolve the House of Representatives.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
166/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Not Free
Political Freedom:
6/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: March 2024