Egypt's parliament on Tuesday (April 16th) overwhelmingly approved constitutional amendments that could allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2030, AFP reported.
Lawmakers also backed other sweeping changes to the constitution, including to give the military greater influence in political life as well as granting al-Sisi more control over the judiciary.
The amendments are to be put to a public referendum.
According to Egyptian media reports, al-Sisi’s current term will expire six years after the date of his election as president in 2018, after which he can be re-elected for another six-year term.
Parliament speaker Ali Abdel Aal said 531 MPs voted for the amendments and 22 against.
The amendments were initially introduced in February by a parliamentary bloc supportive of al-Sisi and updated this week after several rounds of debates.
They extend the presidential term from four to six years but keep it limited to a maximum of two terms.
Prior to the amendments, Egypt's 2014 constitution stipulated two four-year presidential terms.
