Type of Government: Republic Constitution

The Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt, adopted in 1971 and amended in 1980, declares that Egypt is an Arab Republic with a democratic system. The Constitution further outlines Egypt's political system and defines public authorities.

 Suffrage: Universal and compulsory at age 18 Executive branch

I - EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Head of State:

President of the Republic Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK since 14 October 1981, re-elected for a six-year term in September 2005. Executive authority is vested in the President.The President formulates and supervises the implementation of general state policy. He also acts as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

In May 2005, Egypt ammended article 76 of its constitution enbaling Egyptians, for the first time in Egypt's history, to elect their President through direct secret ballot.

 

Government:

It consists of the Council of Ministers, headed since July 2004 by the Prime Minister Dr. Ahmad Nazif. The government is the supreme executive and administrative organ of the State. The Prime Minister supervises the work of the Government. The Ministers are collectively responsible for the general policy of the State before the People's Assembly, and every Minister is responsible for the performance of his Ministry.The Parliament may withdraw confidence from the Cabinet or any Cabinet member.

II - LEGISLATIVE BRANCH:

People's Assembly (Majlis al-Cha'b) is the legislative branch of the State. It approves the general policy, new laws, the budget and the development plan. According to the Constitution, the People's Assembly is made up of 444 directly elected members and 10 members appointed by the President, who serve for a term of five years.

The current People's Assembly was elected in a three-round Parliamentary election held in November/December 2005 and convened for the first time on December 13th. The National Democratic Party NDP holds 320 of the current People's Assembly, the remaining seats are held by Independent and Opposition members, thus making it the largest Opposition block in the recent history of Egypt.

Egypt's has a consultative council of 258 seats called (Majlis al-Shura) which is considered the upper house of the Parliament. The council offers advice and consultation, and proposes new laws and regulations to the People's Assembly.

 

III - JUDICIAL BRANCH:

The Judicial authority is exercised through four categories of courts of justice:

The Supreme Constitutional Court, which is the highest judicial body.
The Court of Cessation.
The seven courts of Appeal in the various Governorates. 
The Summary Tribunals in the districts.
 
The Egyptian Legal System is based on a blend of French civil codes and Islamic law (in Personal and Family affairs).
 

LOCAL AUTHORITIES:

Administratively, Egypt is divided into 26 Governorates, each headed by a Governor who is appointed by the President. Within their districts, local government units establish and manage all public utilities, provide services, designate industrial areas. Local Popular Councils are elected bodies that work closely with local government administrative units at various levels.

 

POLITICAL PARTIES:

The political system is based on a Multi-party system. Law 40 of 1977 regulates the formation of political parties in Egypt. This law prohibits the formation of political parties based on racial class or religious affiliations.
 
There currently active parties on the Egyptian Political Arena are:

National Democratic Party (NDP), led by President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, is the ruling party;
Al-Ghad Party;
Al-Wafd Party;
Arab Socialist Party;
Al-Tagammoe Party;
The People Democratic Party;
Egypt Youth Party;
Democratic Peace Party;
The Greens Party;
The Socialist Liberals Party;
Free Socialist Constitutional Party;
Misr al-Fatah Party (Young Egypt Party);
Nasserist Arab Democratic Party;
The Social Justice Party;
Democratic Generation Party;
Al-Umma Party;
National Conciliation Party;
Misr 2000 Party;
The Socialist Labor Party;
Democratic Unionist Party;
Takafol Party
In addition to political parties, a large number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) exist. Those include NGOs working in the fields of poverty alleviation, environment, women and human rights.

Furthermore, there are several business association, trade unions and independent political, social and cultural think tanks and research centers. Foreign Policy Egypt's Foreign Policy is mainly determined by the prerogatives of socio economic development, the maintenance of national security, and contributing to the enhancement of regional and international peace and stability. Accordingly, Egypt's basic foreign policy orientations are:

 

POLITICAL REFORM IN EGYPT:

Egypt is currently undergoing a process of reform aimed at broadening Political participation, ensuring freedom of expression in all its forms, upholding human rights, and empowering and enabling women and the civil society organizations to participate fully and effectively in public life. The Egyptian Government is fully committed to aggressively working towards these goals.

The debate in Egypt on reform has thus far revealed a near national consensus on the need for a gradual, sustainable process of reform which starts by ensuring the creation of the necessary political and cultural precursors in the form of sound democratic institutions; namely representative political parties, a free media, an independent judiciary, and an empowered civil society.  There is also broad agreement that in order for this endeavor to achieve its intended results it must be approached as a collaborative effort where the government and civil society work together towards reform.

In 2004, the annual conference of the ruling NDP proposed significant changes aimed at broadening Political participation. These included:

·        Increasing membership of the Political Parties Committee to 9 members, 6 of whom will be non-partisan public and judicial figures in addition to 3 Government officials: the Minister of Interior, the Speaker of the Shura Council, and the Minister of Shura Council Affairs. This Committee will have full power and authority to determine the eligibility for creation of New Political Parties.

·        The creation of an Election Committee to play a supervisory role over the entire election process in Egypt. It will be composed of 7 members; The Minister of Justice (chairman), a representative of the Minister of Interior, in addition to 5 independent public figures.

·         Also with Decentralization as one of the main objectives of the NDP conference this year, a number of measures providing for greater autonomy and independence in decision making on the local level were adopted.

 

Thus far the reform process in Egypt has borne significant results:

·        Egypt already boasts one of the most liberal and open media in the region where a large number of opposition papers express their views on any issue freely and without restriction,

·         A growing number of privately owned and managed television networks also operate free of any official control. Satellite television is available to all, and Internet access is free of cost, and completely un-edited and un-censored regardless of content.

·        Civil society is vibrant and active, and scrutinizes Government policies in every field.

·        Recently an independent National Council for Human Rights was created with a membership comprising some of the most vocal critics of the Government.

·        On gender issues, and despite some lingering social and cultural impediments, Egyptian women have been politically active and have had the right to vote and hold office for the better part of the last century. For decades, Egyptian women have been cabinet ministers, members of parliament, ambassadors and more recently judges on the Constitutional Court. Women can now obtain a divorce from the courts with ease after the Islamic practice of khul’ was reinstated. The government has also submitted to Parliament a legislative amendment to the "nationality code" which would provide automatic citizenship to children of Egyptian mothers married to non-Egyptians, as is the case now with Egyptian fathers married to non-Egyptians.

 

FOREIGN POLICY:

Throughout the last few decades, Egypt's Foreign Policy has been based on several pillars, mainly:

1- The enhancement of Egypt's regional and international relations in support of the process of socio-economic liberalization, structural reform and full integration in the global economy, which are seen as the best means to achieve real economic development.

2- The active participation in efforts to create a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East has been a central piece in Egypt's Foreign Policy. Egypt was the first Arab country to enter into a peace treaty with the state of Israel in 1979. This treaty was based on the principle of "land for peace" according to which Israel withdrew from the occupied Sinai peninsula in exchange for normal peaceful relations with Egypt. However Egypt has always believed that peace in the Middle East, to be lasting, has to be comprehensive and has, therefore, constantly provided all the necessary help for the negotiating partners in the peace process to apply this basic formula, by which Israel would have to withdraw from the territories it occupied since 1967, allow the creation of a Palestinian independent state and recognize its political rights in Jerusalem. On the other hand, the achievement of a stable peace also requires the creation of arrangements for maintaining security for all parties, including freeing the region from all weapons of mass destruction. Furthermore, it requires the establishment of a framework for regional cooperation that would both stabilize peace, and enable the peoples of the region to reap its benefits.

3- Promoting Arab cooperation in all fields, out of a belief in the increased importance of regional integration in an increasingly globalizing world order. In addition to the political, cultural and historical foundations for promoting inter-Arab cooperation, Egypt believes that such cooperation is also made imperative by the requirements of dealing with the challenges, and benefiting from the opportunities, offered by the globalized-world market. Therefore, Egypt is leading the process of the revitalization of Arab cooperation, primarily through the creation of an Arab Free Trade Area as well as through increased inter Arab investment.

 
4-  Fulfilling Egypt's responsibilities in furthering international peace, stability and cooperation through active participation in international organizations, particularly the United Nations, its peace keeping operations and its specialized agencies. Egypt believes that the current state of international affairs requires the strengthening of the United Nations to enable it to face the old as well as the new problems of international relations. This requires increasing democracy and transparency in the organization and, particularly of the Security Council.

5- Egypt's size, central geographic location, and cultural and political leadership renders it to an indispensable partner for the United States. It has historically been - and remains today- the most influential Arab country. For the United States, Egypt is a major peace partner in the Middle East, as the signing of the peace treaty with Israel in 1979 constitutes the foundation upon which all subsequent peace efforts are based. Strategic relations have grown in the last 25 years far beyond security cooperation. The bilateral relations have matured into a partnership based on numerous shared goals and values, turning Egypt into a strong, confident partner to the United States that is prepared to play its role as the foremost regional leader.