#EGYPT: Pres. Sisi Wins Another 6-Year Term

[world politics news]

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has ruled with an unquestioned grip for the past nine years, won reelection to a third, six-year term in office, election authorities announced Monday. Sisi recorded a landslide victory, securing 89.6% of the vote, the National Election Authority said.

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#EGYPT: Gov't Discusses Digital Process for Establishing Startups

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President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, and Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) Amr Talaat have met to discuss the president’s directives to help entrepreneurs establish their businesses digitally, in a bid to shorten the bureaucratic process.

Bassam Rady, the Presidential Spokesperson, listed Al-Sisi’s directives in an official social media statement.

Entrepreneurs will be able to formally register their business through a “digital notification” platform, “so as to eliminate all obstacles facing start-ups and entrepreneurs.”

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Small Leftist Party Draws Attention To "Excessive Foreign Borrowing" In National Budget

[world politics news]

MP Farid El-Biaddi, a member of the leftist-oriented Egyptian Social Democratic Party, announced in a statement on Wednesday that the party's seven deputies have voted against approval of the state's 2020/21 budget.

El-Biaddi said the balance sheet of the 2020/21 budget showed that the government has been heavily involved in "foreign borrowing." 

Figures released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Monday show that Egypt's foreign debt rose to $145.5 billion at the end of the second quarter of the current fiscal year, from $137.4 billion at the end of the same period of FY 2020/19.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Parliament Says Information Minister Can't Run Media Production Company, Too

[world politics news] 

Egypt's Minister of Information, Osama Heikal, told MPs that since he came to office in June 2018, he has done his best to develop the role of the ministry in defending the image of Egypt and explaining government policies.

But Members of Parliament have asked Heikal not to work as both the minister of information and the chairman of the Egyptian Media Production City (EMPC) at the same time.

Ashraf Rashad, spokesman of the Mostaqbal Watan party, which holds a majority in parliament, said, "It is illegal and in violation of the constitution that Heikal doubles as both minister of information and the EMPC's chairman at the same time."

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Overseas Voters Cast First Ballots In Election

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The first phase of parliamentary elections kicked off, Monday by allowing voters to find their ballot papers online on the National Elections Authority website in order to resend them to the embassies and diplomatic missions in different countries during the voting days.

A period of "electoral silence" for the House elections started Sunday ahead of the parliament elections. During the electoral silence period all candidates are prohibited from practicing any form of electoral advertising, in order to allow voters to choose freely.

According to the elections schedule, the candidates’ campaigns ended October 18.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#LIBYA: Parliament Votes To Allow Egyptian Troops To Help Expel Turkish "Invaders"

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The Libyan parliament has called on the Egyptian army to intervene in Libya to expel Turkish military there to prop up rival militia groups.

Parliament confirmed that Libya is exposed to a blatant Turkish  "interference" in violation of its sovereignty, with the blessing of armed militias controlling the west of the country and the de facto authority subject to them.

There's no word on whether or when Egyptian troops would intervene.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Parliament Grants President New Powers To Fight Coronavirus

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Egypt’s parliament – the House of Representatives – voted Wednesday in favour of amending four articles of the law regulating the state of emergency (law 162/1958) to give the president greater powers to contain critical health situation such as the outbreak of the coronavirus.

To avoid crowdedness and in line with the anti-coronavirus measures, parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal decided that all deputies should not vote at the same time.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Public Debt Shrank From 108% Of GDP To 90% In First Half Of 2019, Says Finance Minister

[world politics news]

 Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait says Egypt was able to decrease the public debt from 108% of the GDP in June 2017 to about 90% of GDP in June 2019. This means that financial control reached 18% of the GDP in only two years. Egypt achieved the highest real GDP growth in the Middle East and North Africa, recording 5.6% of GDP.

Maait said the public treasury made an early payment between July and December, recording about EGP 33bn in favour of pension funds, which represent the full interest dues to funds for the whole year instead of paying them in June 2020

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Parliament Approves Amendment Allowing Another 10 Years For President

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Egypt's parliament has approved constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2030. He is due to step down in 2022, when his second four-year term ends.

But the amendments, which must be put to a referendum within 30 days, would lengthen his current term to six years and allow him to stand for one more. They would also give al-Sisi more power over the judiciary and further enshrine the military's role in politics.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Transportation Minister Resigns Following Deadly Cairo Train Crash

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Egypt's transportation minister resigned Wednesday after a deadly train crash in Cairo killed at least 25, and left over 50 injured.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly accepted Hisham Arafat's resignation, a cabinet satement the statement said. Egypt has consistently been criticized for the safety of its rail service.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: TV Host Gets 1-Year Prison Sentence For Interviewing Homosexual Man

[world politics news]

An Egyptian court has sentenced TV host Mohamed El-Gheity to one year in prison, one year probation, and EGP 3000 fine in a lawsuit that charged him with promoting debauchery and homosexuality through an interview with a homosexual man on his TV talk show on the privately owned LTC Channel in September 2017.

The lawsuit accused El-Gheity of violating "fundamental religious and legal constants" by hosting a homosexual man on screen and discussing issues that were "inappropriate for public broadcast." The suit accused El-Gheity of insinuating during the interview that there were financial gains and advantages to attain as a result of practicing homosexuality.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Member Of Parliament Wants Google And Social Media Sites To Pay Taxes On Revenue Made From Egyptians

[world politics news]

An Egyptian MP is set to introduce a bill enabling the government to collect value-added tax (VAT) from internet companies such as Google and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. MP Badawi Al-Noweishi claims Facebook make more than $17 billion from online ads in Egypt on an annual basis, and he wants it taxed.

Others dispute this figure as being too high, and obstacles standing in the way of imposing taxes on social networking companies, communications experts say, include the fact that these companies are headquartered abroad and there is no information about their revenues in particular countries.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Cairo Talks Continue Between Two Palestinian Factions Over Control Of Gaza

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Delegations from the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas movements held separate meetings in Cairo to discuss reviving the Palestinian reconciliation process. While the Hamas delegation announced its approval of the latest Egyptian proposal to promote inter-Palestinian reconciliation, the Fatah delegation returned to the West Bank for consultations with President Mahmoud Abbas. Sources close to the talks in Cairo say Pres. Abbas wants a formula that guarantees the Palestinian Authority’s “full empowerment” in Gaza, something Hamas rejects.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: Parliament To Consider "Temporary" 30% Progressive Income Tax On Businesses

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The Egyptian parliament is drafting a law to impose a progressive tax of at least 30 percent on annual incomes exceeding 1 million Egyptian Pounds, in order to reduce the financial burden on the poor. The bill will be discussed in autumn, according to Legislative Committee MP Moustafa Bakry. Bakry believes that "not too many" businessmen would object to the bill, arguing that the role of “social capital” – the economic benefits of a fair and stable distribution of wealth – was understood by many in Egypt’s business elite, particularly as it encourages social peace in the period of economic reforms.

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#EGYPT: Economic Reforms Bring #IMF Investment, But End Of Subsidies Causes Consumer Prices To Soar

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The International Monetary Fund has approved the fourth installment of a $12 billion, three-year loan for Egypt, which now totals just over $8 billion. It's part of an aid deal signed in 2016 to support Cairo's economic reform program, which the Washington-based lender has repeatedly praised. Since then, the government has imposed harsh austerity measures and started to phase out subsidies on many goods and services, causing fuel prices to rise as much as 50%, and electricity rates by about 25%. The nation's deficit rose to 12.5% of GDP in the 2015-2016 tax year.

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#EGYPT: Pres. Al-Sisi Wins Re-Election With Near 100% Of Vote On Reduced Turnout

[world politics news]

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected for a second four-year term, after winning 97% of the vote last week, official results show. The amount is the same as he won in the last election in 2014. But turnout, at 41%, was six percentage points lower. Electoral officials also said 7% of the 24 million ballots cast were spoiled.

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#EGYPT: Seven Opposition Parties Say They Will Boycott Next Month's Presidential Election

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Seven opposition parties have decided not to take part in next month’s presidential elections, citing a “tight timetable did not give competitors a real chance to present themselves and their programs." Comprised of seven leftist and liberal parties and 150 political figures, the Democratic Civil Movement was founded in December of last year to define a unified stance regarding the presidential polls. Pres. Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, who has been in office since 2014, announced on 19 January his intention to run for a second four-year term. Al-Sisi’s sole rival is Moussa Mustafa Moussa, chairman of the little known Ghad Party.

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Pictured: Hamdeen Sabahi,former presidential candidate and a prominent member of the Democratic Civil Movement. 

#EGYPT: Former Military Chief Of Staff's Presidential Campaign Announcement Doesn't Impress Many

[world politics news]

The quiet announcement - made by a small, largely unknown political party - that former military chief of staff Sami Anan would run for president this year, caused little stir in the press, and raised suspicion that his was a stealth candidacy. While Pres. Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi who has yet to officially announce he will be a candidate in the March election, it's seen as an almost foregone conclusion he will win re-election.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#EGYPT: Parliament Considers Law Banning Atheism Amid Crackdown On Dissidents

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Egyptian parliament has in recent days discussed a proposed bill to criminalize atheism. The draft law was submitted by Amr Hamroush, the head of parliament’s Committee on Religion, who argues that lack of belief in God is a form of contempt of religion, which is punishable by up to five years in prison under Egyptian law.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#EGYPT: Former PM Shafiq "Deported" From UAE After Claiming He Was Prevented From Leaving; Returns To Egypt

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UAE officials on Saturday took former Egyptian premier and presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq from his Abu Dhabi home to be deported back to Egypt. The move comes days after Shafiq, in exile in the UAE since 2012, announced his candidacy in next year's election and then said he was being prevented from leaving the country, angering his Emirati hosts.

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