Egypt's parliament has giving preliminary approval to constitutional changes that would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power beyond 2022 after the end of his second term.
A total of 485 lawmakers out of 596 endorsed in principle the constitutional amendments after three consecutive sessions that lasted more than 10 hours. The amendments will now be submitted to parliament's legislative commission which must draft them into legislation and return them to parliament within 60 days for a final vote.
The key amendment endorsed Wednesday calls for extending the president's term in office from four years to six, that would allow Sisi to stay in power until 2034. If the vote is passed by a majority of two thirds, parliament will then hold a referendum in line with the conditions of the 2014 constitution.
Backers of Sisi, a former army chief who was re-elected president in March 2018 with over 97 percent of the vote, have been pressing parliament to repeal an article in the constitution limiting presidents to two consecutive four-year terms
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