In Egypt, weakened opposition resists push

CAIRO — Egypt’s parliament has accelerated its push to adopt constitutional amendments that would give President Abdel Fattah Sisi greater power and could keep him in office until 2034, a move that opposition parties and some lawmakers have vowed to fight, though their chances of success appear slim.

The proposed changes to the 2014 constitution “go against modern democratic principles,” said Talaat Khalil, one of a small group of lawmakers who have publicly rejected the changes.

The focus, said Mohamed Anwar Sadat, nephew of the former assassinated president and also leader of the Reform and Development Party, should be on fully implementing the constitution, not changing it.

A parliamentary committee last week hastily approved a broad package of proposals that had been submitted to the speaker just two days earlier, while the House of Representatives is expected to cast a provisional vote this week. Further changes could then be made before the parliament, which is stuffed with Sisi supporters, takes a final vote. It takes a two-thirds vote by lawmakers to put the matter to a public vote.

The initiatives would extend presidential terms from four to six years. Though Sisi is due to complete his second and final term in 2022, the proposal would allow him to continue to govern for 12 more years.

For many, the amendments are a clear power grab by Sisi, who led the overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, before becoming president in 2014.

Sisi’s crackdown on activism and dissent has been so fierce that much of his opposition has vanished and what remains is greatly weakened. Still, some have vowed to resist.

A small bloc of leftist lawmakers denounced the proposed amendments, arguing they betrayed the key gains of the “Arab Spring.”