Cairo: A week before the inauguration of Egypt’s long-delayed parliament, a controversy is raging on who will become the speaker of the assembly led by President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi’s supporters.
The pro-Al Sissi alliance, For Love of Egypt, shot the first salvo in the impending battle when it said this week it would not accept that the parliament’s head be picked from the 28 members appointed by Al Sissi in the legislature that comprises 568 elected lawmakers.
For Love of Egypt swept clean all the 120 parliamentary seats reserved for political parties’ slates in the recent two-round elections.
The coalition, led by an ex-intelligence officer, says that more than 200 other elected parliamentarians have agreed to join it, meaning that For Love of Egypt will have a majority in the 596-strong assembly.
The parliament is scheduled to convene on January 10 to vote for its speaker and two deputies.
MP Mustafa Bakri, a senior official in For Love of Egypt, has outlined the bloc’s stance on the contentious issue.
“Many members are opposed to the idea of having an appointed parliamentarian as the assembly’s president,” Bakri, a staunch backer of Al Sissi, said. “President Al Sissi has not imposed a certain nominee for the post and does not interfere in the parliament’s affairs.”
Bakri has said that his alliance’s member, Ali Abdul Aal, a law professor, will run for the stewardship of parliament. “For Love of Egypt, which has the support of 350 members of parliament, nominated Dr Ali Abdul Aal for the post because he has a vast legal experience and is an elected member.”
Abdul Aal was a member of a commission that rewrote Egypt’s constitution that was adopted last year, months after the army deposed Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following enormous protests against his rule.
Abdul Aal, 67, won his parliamentary seat as a contender on the For Love of Egypt list.
His potential rival for the post of the parliament speaker is Seri Siam, a former judge.
Maverick TV host, Tawfik Oukasha, who is an independent MP, has said he will stand for the post.
Siam, 74, was among the 28 people appointed by Al Sissi on Thursday as per the constitutional right of the head of state. Neither Abdul Aal nor Siam has shown public interest in the post at stake.
However, both have emerged as potential contenders after Egypt’s former interim president Adly Mansour, the incumbent chief judge of the country’s top court, reportedly declined an offer to be appointed in parliament and run for the post of speaker. Some political powers have thrown their weight behind having Siam as parliament’s head. One influential force is the Future of the Homeland, which has 52 seats in parliament, making it the second party with the highest representation.
“The speaker of parliament should not be affiliated to any political current inside the assembly,” Mohammad Shawky, an official in the Future of the Homeland, said.
“There is talk about nominating Ali Abdul Aal for the post of speaker, but he belongs to the For Love of Egypt coalition. His nomination gives the impression that the coalition wants to control all posts in the assembly. The parliament speaker should enjoy consensus of all members of the council.”
The liberal Free Egyptians, the party with the highest representation in parliament, has said it has yet to decide on whom it would back for the legislature’s presidency.
The electoral system allowed political parties to contest seats allocated for both individuals and party-based slates in the recent polls.
The five-year parliament is Egypt’s first since June 2012 when the top court invalidated the then Islamist-dominated legislature.
Under the 2014 constitution, parliament has vast powers, including the right to impeach the president.
However, with Al Sissi’s loyalists having the vast majority, the new assembly is unlikely to pose a serious opposition to him.
