In January 2013 Global Partners Governance and the Arab Forum for Alternatives released their joint publication Parliament and the New Egyptian Constitution. The publication is the result of discussions which took place in Cairo in November 2012 between Egyptian researchers, politicians and Academics from the United Kingdom. The discussions and the resulting publication aim to inform the public debate on the role of the Egyptian parliament in relation to other existing authorities; namely the president, the executive, the judiciary and the local councils.
The publication emphasises the critical significance of key parliamentary responsibilities including approving legislation and overseeing the executive. The paper draws on a range of expertise from within and beyond Egypt involving authors such as Professor and former member of parliament Amr Al-Shubaki from Egypt and Professor Adam Cygan from the UK. The shape of Egypt’s democracy continues to be a key point of contention, and is likely to be formed by the debates in and around parliament in the coming years. We hope this publication will inform that debate.