Egypt's parliament began Tuesday (April 16th) a session to vote on changes to the constitution that could keep current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in power until 2030, AFP reported.
The proposed amendments were initially introduced in February by a parliamentary bloc supportive of al-Sisi and updated this week after several rounds of debates.
It includes changing Article 140 of the constitution to allow the Egyptian president to extend his current four-year term, which ends in 2022, by two years.
A further change would permit al-Sisi to stand for another six-year term and potentially remain president until 2030.
Pro-Sisi member of parliament Mostafa Bakry told AFP that the session "had started" and that the final voting in the 596-seat parliament would be held "later today".
The vote is expected to be swift, and if it is passed by a majority of two thirds, parliament will then hold a referendum in which Egyptians will vote on the raft of amendments.
