| President of the Arab Republic of Egypt |
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Presidential Standard |
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'Incumbent
Vacant' |
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| Residence | Heliopolis Palace, Cairo, Egypt |
| Term length | Four years renewable once |
| Inaugural holder | Muhammad Naguib 18 June 1953 |
| Website | www.presidency.gov.eg |
| Egypt |
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The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt. Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government.
The first president of Egypt was Muhammad Naguib, one of the leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, who took office on 18 June 1953, the day on which Egypt was declared a republic.
The most recent president of Egypt was Hosni Mubarak, who held office from 14 October 1981 until 11 February 2011. Mubarak resigned following eighteen days of protests calling for his removal from office which led to war. On 10 February 2011 Mubarak transferred presidential powers to then-Vice President Omar Suleiman, making Suleiman de facto Head of State for less than a single day.[1]
As of 11 February 2011, the position of President of Egypt is officially vacant. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, currently act in the capacity as Head of State.[2] Elections for a new president are expected to be held in July 2012.
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Under the system created by the 1980 constitutional amendments, the president is the pre-eminent executive figure, who names the Prime Minister of Egypt. During martial law, the president also anoints deans of faculties and majors, and can also enlist or oust people in the private sector. Egypt has been under martial law since 1981.
Article 75 of the Egyptian Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become president. The president of the Republic should be an Egyptian citizen, born to Egyptian parents and having full civil and political rights. The president's age must not be less than 40 Gregorian years.
Election procedures are taken before the end of the incumbent president’s term by 60 days.
Additional requirements were provisioned in Article 76 of the Egyptian constitution concerning candidates for the president's office.
Under the 1980 amendments of the 1971 Egyptian Constitution, the president of Republic is elected indirectly in a two-stage system unique to Egypt. The People’s Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, nominates one of a number of candidates for presidency. The presidential candidate requires at least a two-thirds majority in the People’s Assembly in order to proceed to the second stage of the elections.
In 2005 and 2007, constitutional amendments were made. Principles in the amended constitution include:
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 subsequent to the passage of legislation.
| Candidates, Nominating parties | Votes | % |
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| Hosni Mubarak, National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watani Al-Dimuqrati) | 6,316,714 | 88.6 |
| Ayman Nour, Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) | 540,405 | 7.3 |
| Numan Gomaa, New Wafd Party (Hizb al-Wafd al-Jadid) | 201,891 | 2.8 |
| Total (Turnout 22.9 %) | 7,059,010 |
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 Peoples 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 contestation 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 Constitution, the president serves four Gregorian years starting from the date of the announcement of result of the plebiscite. The President of the Republic may be re-elected once.
The constitution specifies the number of terms a president shall remain in office to be limited to two terms.
If the president-elect is announced before the end of the incumbent president’s term, the incumbent president continues in office till the end of his term.
In the case of temporary incapacitation of the president, the constitution provides the president to relinquish his powers to a vice-president. If there is no vice president in-office, the prime minister takes office. 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 chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court shall take over the presidency on condition that neither shall nominate himself 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 the 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.[1]
The president may resign by delivering his resignation to the People's Assembly.
President 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. President Mubarak also resigned on 11 February 2011 after eighteen days of protest against his regime.
The official residence and office of the president is Abdeen Palace, in Old Cairo, Cairo. Other presidential palaces include:
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