President of Egypt

Presidential Standard, 1972–1984

The Egyptian Constitution has had various forms since the establishment of the republic in 1953. In all iterations of the republican constitution until 2005, the method of electing the president is based on that of the French Fifth Republic. Both the pre-revolution Egyptian Civil Code, and the semi-presidential system of government adopted after the revolution were strongly influenced by the legal and political tradition of France. In this two-stage system, the Egyptian legislature, the National Assembly (a name also inspired by its French counterpart), nominates one of a number of candidates for the presidency. A candidate needs at least a two-thirds majority in the Assembly in order to win the nomination. In the second stage, the candidate is confirmed in office by popular plebiscite of all eligible voters in the country. Egypt maintained this system even after it was abandoned by France in 1962 in favour of direct presidential elections, eliminating the role of the legislature in the election of the French president. In the Egyptian Constitution of 1971, the name of the National Assembly was changed to the People's Assembly.

In 2005 and 2007, constitutional amendments were made. Principles in the amended constitution include:

• election of the president of the republic by direct secret ballot by citizens who have the right to vote
• ensuring that multiple candidates be put forward for the people to choose from
• ensuring the credibility of the nomination process
• providing the opportunity for political parties to put forward one of their leaders to contest the first presidential elections to be held in light of the amendment
• the establishment of a presidential election commission that would enjoy complete independence to supervise the election process
• carrying out the election in a single day
• ensuring judicial supervision over the voting process

The following provisions regarding the election process are stipulated in Article 76 as amended:

• A successful candidate must be elected by the majority of the votes. If no candidate attains such a majority, elections will be repeated after at least seven days between the two candidates having the highest votes. In case of a tie between the candidate who attained the second highest votes and a third candidate, the third candidate shall participate in the second round. The candidate who receives the highest votes in the second round shall be declared president.
• The amendment also provides that a law will be passed to regulate the relevant election procedures. This law is expected to regulate the various aspects of the election process itself, including campaign funding, equal access to the media, and guarantees of fair competition.
• As required by the amendment, the law will be submitted to the Supreme Constitutional Court to opine on its constitutionality. This establishes an important precedent in Egypt's legal tradition, by which the Supreme Constitutional Court shall have the right of prior review of national legislation to decide on its compatibility with the Constitution. This differs from the practice thus far by which the review process undertaken by the Court on national legislation was done by judicial review subsequent to the passage of legislation.

Additional requirements were provisioned in Article 142 of the Egyptian constitution concerning candidates for the president's office.[7]

• Candidates must have the recommendation of 20 members of the House of Representatives or the endorsement of 25,000 people across 15 governorates, with at least 1,000 signatures from each.[7]

The amendment to Article 76 of the constitution provides for the establishment of a "Presidential Election Commission" that would have complete independence, and would be charged with the supervision of the presidential election process.

The commission will be composed of 10 members, presided by the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court and four other ex officio members of the judiciary who are the most senior serving deputy president of each of the Supreme Constitutional, the Court of Cassation, and the High Administrative Court, and the president of the Cairo Court of Appeal.

The rest of the commission will be made up from five independent and neutral public figures: three to be selected by the People's Assembly and two to be selected by the Shoura Council.

Decisions of this Committee shall be passed by a majority of seven votes. This commission will have a term of five years and will be exclusively competent to supervise the presidential election process, including accepting nominations, announcing the names of accepted candidates, supervision of election procedures, vote counting and announcement of the results.

It will also have final judicial competence to rule on any contesting or challenge submitted in relation to the presidential elections, and its decision will be final and subject to no appeal. The committee will issue its own regulations and shall be competent to establish general sub-committees from among members of the judiciary, to monitor the various phases of the election process, under its supervision. The election process will be completed in one day.

In accordance with Article 79 of the constitution, the president must take the following oath or affirmation before exercising his functions: "I swear by Allah the Almighty to sincerely maintain the Republican system, to respect the Constitution and law, to fully care about the interests of the people, and to maintain the independence and territorial integrity of the Homeland."

Under the previous Constitution, the president serves for a term of four years. The president is limited to two terms, whether successive or separated. For example, if incumbent President Sisi had been unsuccessful in his bid for reelection in 2018, he would have been eligible to run again in 2022, and if successful would have had to leave office for good in 2026.

The Egyptian parliament voted overwhelmingly on 14 February 2019 to approve draft amendments to the country's 2014 constitution; among other things, these amendments extend the duration of presidential terms from four years to six years, and allow incumbent president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to serve a third and final term, exempting him from the two-term limit that otherwise applies to the office of president.[8] These amendments were subsequently ratified in the 2019 Egyptian constitutional referendum.[9]

During their tenure in office, the president is not allowed to be a formal member of a political party.

If the president-elect is announced before the end of the incumbent president's term, the incumbent president continues in office until the end of their term.

In the case of temporary incapacitation of the president, the constitution provides the president to relinquish his powers to the vice president or the prime minister. However the person who takes office is limited in power as the new president can not dissolve the parliament, propose constitutional amendments or remove the cabinet from office.

In case of the vacancy of the presidential office or the permanent incapacitation of the President, the Speaker of the People's Assembly shall temporarily assume the presidency. In case the People's Assembly is dissolved at such a time, the President of the Supreme Constitutional Court shall take over the presidency on condition that neither shall nominate themselves for the presidency. Both are also limited in power as in they can not dissolve the parliament, remove the cabinet, or propose constitutional amendments.

The People's Assembly shall then proclaim the vacancy of the office of president, and a new president shall be chosen within a maximum period of sixty days from the date of the vacancy of the office.

Although, the constitution does not directly stipulate any role for the vice president in the process of presidential succession, it had become a tradition for the People's Assembly to nominate a vice president for the vacant office of the president. Both Sadat and Mubarak served as vice-presidents at the time the presidential office became vacant; however, on Mubarak's succession in 1981 as president, he did not appoint a vice-president until 29 January 2011, when during substantial protests demanding reforms he appointed Omar Suleiman to the role.[10]

President Gamal Abdel Nasser submitted his resignation after the overwhelming Egyptian defeat in 1967 war with Israel, before returning to office after mass demonstrations by the Egyptian public.[11] President Mubarak also resigned on 11 February 2011 after eighteen days of protest against his regime.

The president may resign by delivering their resignation to the People's Assembly under the 2012 and 2014 Constitutions.[12]

The presidency in Egypt controls 8 presidential residences in addition to other presidential guest houses. The official residence and office of the president is Heliopolis Palace in Cairo. Other presidential palaces include:

• Abdeen Palace, in Old Cairo, Cairo.
• Koubbeh Palace, in Cairo.
• Ras Al-Teen Palace, in Alexandria
• Montaza Palace, in Alexandria
• Al-Tahra Palace, in Cairo
• Al-Oroba Palace, in Cairo