1971 Constitution of Egypt - Timeline

Timeline

The current constitution has had a number of amendments and phases.

• 1971 – President Sadat passed a new constitution named “The Permanent Constitution of Egypt.” The country still preserved its socialist tendency in Politics and economic system.
• 1980 – President Sadat passed a few amendments; most notably passing the Islamic Law (Sharia) became the principal source of legislative rules.
• 2005 – President Mubarak asked the parliament to amend Article 76 to allow multi-candidate presidential elections. However it was seen to have imposed draconian restrictions on both partisan and independent presidential candidates.
• 2007 – President Mubarak submitted a petition to the parliament to amend a total of 34 articles as part of his party’s policies towards the democratization of the country’s politics. Other notable amendments include the move towards capitalism, the adoption of an election system combining both Party list and Single Candidate List as well as the abolishment of the country’s socialist institutions. The Egyptian parliament started the discussion on amending the bulk of proposed amendments. One-fifth of the parliament members left the parliament hall when the amendments were about to be approved. They eventually were approved in the absence of 110 members of the 454-member parliament in March 2007. On 26 March 2007, a public referendum was held and the new amendments were approved.
• 2011 – On 10 February 2011, during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Former President Mubarak stated that he had requested that Articles 76, 77, 88, 93 and 189 be amended and that Article 179 be removed. Mubarak resigned the following day.
  • On 13 February, the military suspended the constitution.
  • On 26 February, the military government of Egypt published a proposal that would to amend Articles 76, 77, 88, 93, 139, 148 and 189 and to remove Article 179. The amendments passed with 77.2% in favor of them.
  • On March 30 of the same year, the constitution was effectively voided as a new provisional constitution was passed by the custodian military council in power. The new provisional constitution was drafted to operate as a working constitution in the transitional period following the revolution, until a new one is drafted and approved.

The new provisional constitution included the most recent amendments, provisional articles defining the powers of the executive and judicial branches and paved the way for parliamentary elections in September and presidential elections in November. Additionally it directly stipulated that the formation of a new constitutional drafting committee to write a new constitution.