Formally, Egypt is known as the Arab Republic of Egypt. Knowing this, it is quite clear as to what type of government rules this country. A republic, by definition is "a representative democracy in which the people's elected deputies (representatives), not the people themselves, vote on legislation."
Just over one year ago, there was a shift in Egyptian political structure. On March 19, 2011, there was a referendum enacted that brought the hope of an Egyptian constitution to be written in 2012. For now, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, is the head of the Executive branch of government as the "Presidential Authority".
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| Mohamed Husseins Tantawi www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/egypt/tantawi.htm |
The executive branch also includes Prime Minister Kamal Ahmad El-Ganzouri. Presidential elections will be held May 23 & 24 to determine who will succeed the current temporary authority.
The legislative branch in Egypt is divided into two parts. First, there is the Advisory Council, also known as the Shura Council. This group is made up of 264 seats; of which, 176 are elected by the people. The remainder are appointed by the President. The other segment of the legislative branch is the People's Assembly which contains 518 seats - 508 are voted on by the people, 64 are reserved for women, and 10 are appointed. There are quite a few political parties represented in the Shura Council, however most are minimally represented in comparison to the National Democratic Party.
The National Democratic Party was the governing party in Egypt from the 1970s until the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak. With this overthrow, the National Democratic Party was forced to dissolve amid allegation of unfair election practices. In 2010, The NDP held 420 seats in the People's Assembly. Another 54 seats were occupied by NDP-affiliated independents. In the same year, members of this party won 80 of the 88 seats available on the Shura Council.
The court system in Egypt is much like that of European countries. There is a Supreme Constitutional Court. Post-uprising Egypt has seen it's court system turn in favor of due process and judicial review. On April 11, 2012, the country received a major setback when the Constituent Assembly charged with drafting the country's new constitution was told to pause their progress after being accused of overstepping their constitutional rights. It seems that some Egyptian leaders feel that the assembly was comprised in a way that was unconstitutional and therefore, argue that the entire assembly should cease and be started again from scratch.
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