The parliament discussed in this session 52 draft laws, in addition to 179 financial draft laws on finance and final budget accounts and 27 draft law proposals, approved one presidential draft law, and discussed 41 agreements.

The parliament’s exercise of its legislative jurisdiction reflected concern for economic reform issues whereby the economic draft laws issued by the council had a higher share other types of draft laws. At the forefront of these were draft laws on encouraging investment and eliminating obstacles facing it as well as paving the way for investment to extend to new regions and desert areas. An example of this is the parliament’s approval of a draft law on the principles of gratuitous estate title of government-owned desert lands, the draft laws of specialized ports, the draft law on amending some of the provisions of the law regulating customs exemptions, and the draft law on amending some of the provisions of general sales tax, etc.

As for draft law proposals, the parliament approved four. Some were related to the approval of bonuses and wage raises for government employees and salary and social guarantee receivers. In the context of the parliament’s legislative role, it is possible to praise a number of important draft laws that represent prominent indications and that were submitted to and approved by the parliament. Examples are the parliament’s approval of the draft law on children, the draft law on regulating the proceedings of conducting solicitation lawsuits in personal status issues, the parliament’s discussion of the press draft law which caused wide controversy inside and outside the parliament.

Agreements and Treaties
Presented before the parliament in the first session of the seventh legislative phase were 41 agreements. Some of the agreements discussed by the parliament addressed a number of vital topics and sectors. Some were related to the electricity and power sector, to currency, and to health spending projects.

To ensure appropriate study of some agreements, the parliament decided to return 4 agreements to the specialized committees for re-examination and preparation of supplementary reports on them.

The parliament in this assembly discussed 38 draft laws in addition to 125 draft laws related to finance and final budget accounts and 12 draft law proposals. It issued three presidential decrees and discussed 36 agreements.

A subject that received the attention of the parliament and its members was that of expanding focus from the old valley to new societies and urban regions. The parliament’s legislative work reflected this. For example, the parliament discussed and approved the draft law on amending some of the provisions of law no. 59 (of 1979) and law no. 7 (of 1991) to organize new urban societies, the new provisions related to government properties, and the draft law on investment guarantees and incentives.

In synch with privatization policies and with the trend towards developing and activating the private sector’s role, the parliament discussed and approved a law that granted the obligation of government facilities for the construction, management, and use of airports and petrol lands. The parliament also approved a law that impacts an important societal issue; namely, the law amending the second paragraph of Article 29 of law no. 49 of 1997, a paragraph on the lease of non-residential homes .

The parliament also discussed and approved a number of draft laws aimed at facilitating citizens’ lives and decreasing their financial burdens. These draft laws included the following: the draft law giving bonuses to government employees, the draft law for pending wage raises in accordance with the provisions of the social guarantee law, the comprehensive social security system, the draft law on wage raises for the military, amending some of the provisions of the law of retirement, insurance, and salaries for armed forces, the draft law regulating customs exemptions (No. 86 of 1986) and related to exempting Egyptian envoys abroad in congruence with changes in economic conditions .

As for draft law proposals (112), they were characterized in this meeting of the parliament’s session by a special importance because they reflected quick and immediate action on members’ part to address the legislative vacuum that might arise from judging certain Articles as non-constitutional and without waiting for the government to propose draft laws in this regard. An example of this are the two proposals related to amending some of the provisions on non-residential properties and the proposals for amending some of the provisions of government sales tax.

On another level, draft law proposals addressed topics for which the existence of regulatory principles (or amendments in existent regulatory principles) were repeatedly requested. Examples are the draft law proposal no. 31 to found a syndicate for agricultural professions, the draft law proposal to found an Egyptian Union for Raising Livestock, and draft law proposals on regulating import, service, contracts, and sales.

Agreements and Treaties
The parliament in this session discussed 36 agreements that addressed numerous vital topics, among them agreements related to the privatization program, security cooperation, government treasury, fiscal protocols, the power sector, and training, etc.

The discussion of agreements revealed members’ determination to preserve the rights guaranteed by the constitution for the parliament when examining agreements. The discussion revealed members’ determination to demand from the Egyptian government and negotiator concern for protecting individual property rights and for a fair distribution of scholarships and loans to various provinces, and that the government accompany every loan or scholarship agreement with an economic benefits study, etc .

The analytical report on the parliament’s activity and achievements in this assembly reveals that it has discussed 54 draft laws, in addition to draft laws relating to finance and final budget accounts, 40 draft law proposals, 39 agreements, and 4 presidential decrees.

In sequel to events in past sessions, and since the onset of the economic reform period, the report indicated that the economic sector had a large share of draft laws and draft law proposals that were discussed by the parliament (38 draft laws and draft law proposals). Among the most important draft laws discussed by the parliament was the commerce draft law aimed at modernizing the law enforced since 1883 and unifying the commerce code and the draft law for combating inundation. The parliament approved a number of draft laws aimed at encouraging private sector investment in public facilities, services projects, and financial sector and banking projects such as the law on transforming the Cable and Wireless Communications Department into an Egyptian shareholders’ company, the law regulating bids, the law on founding an Egyptian government institution for maritime transportation, etc. The parliament approved a number of laws aimed at facilitating investors’ activities, offering them customs and tax exemptions, and supporting their projects, particularly those geared toward export.

The parliament also approved a number of laws that addressed human development issues. At the forefront of these was the education issue such as the law on amending some of the provisions of the education law of law no. 139 of 1981, the draft law proposal on amending some of the provisions of decretal law no. 37 of 1958 on founding government patents on intellectual production and the encouragement of sciences, the draft law on amending some of the provisions of law no. 103 on re-organizing Al-Azhar and its departments, and the draft law on regulating the pharmacy profession. The parliament also issued in this session a number of draft laws attending to societal issues such as draft laws for salary raises, bonuses, and amending the provisions of the social guarantee law, etc.

In addition to the above, this session witnessed the approval of two laws related to regulating the security dimension. The first of these laws was the law on amending the penal code. The second was amending the provisions of the police department law.

The parliament also approved in this session a number of laws of a political and judicial nature. At the forefront of these was the law on the continued enforcement of law no. 49 of 1974 by commissioning the President of the Republic to decrees that have the power of law in the military production domain, the law on amending some of the provisions of law no. 206 of 1990 regarding specifying the constituencies of the parliament, the law on amending some of the provisions of the Government Issues Department, and the draft law on amending the Central Audit Department law.

The report indicated that the draft laws and draft law proposals in this session received wide discussions aimed at inspecting all their structural and substantive aspects and led to making many important amendments to some draft laws.

Agreements and Treaties
The parliament during this session discussed 39 agreements that addressed a number of vital topics and sectors such as the encouragement and protection of investments, economic and commercial agreements, environment-related agreements, agreements on decision-support services, education-related agreements, foreign relations agreements, and industry-related agreements, etc.

Some committees’ reports made several remarks regarding agreements, as did the discussion remarks of parliament members regarding the delay in submitting agreements to the parliament, the need to refer to the parliament prior to making any amendment in all aspects of expenditure, donation, and loan funds acquired by Egypt, and the need to attach to these funds a list of the projects benefiting from them and the sum expended to ensure a higher level of transparency .

The number of draft laws discussed by the parliament in this assembly was 31, in addition to 128 draft laws for plans, budgets, and final budget accounts.

Draft laws of an economic nature enjoyed an advanced status among draft laws approved by the parliament in this session. In this context, the parliament discussed 14 draft laws. At the forefront of these was the commerce draft law, which replaced the commerce code ordained over a century ago. Discussing this law had begun in the previous session (the third). Also discussed was the draft law on increasing the share allotted to the Arab Republic of Egypt in the International Monetary Fund, the draft law on amending some of the provisions of the customs law, the draft law on imposing an entertainment tax on entering leisure, spectacle, and party facilities. The parliament also approved 6 draft laws addressing the side effects of economic reform policies and the minimization of their consequences on limited income citizens.

The parliament discussed draft laws on the search for and excavation of petrol and natural gas. It also discussed a draft law on the search for and excavation of gold and accompanying metals and its use in certain eastern desert regions as well as a draft law on issuing a mining, stone quarry, and salt pump law.

The parliament discussed a number of draft laws addressing society’s negative social and behavioral phenomena. Among the most important is the draft law on eliminating Article 91 of the criminal code, which aims at combating the spread of female kidnapping and rape. What the draft law proposes is eliminating the special verdict on withholding punishment from the male abductor if he officially marries his hostage. The parliament also approved a draft law on approving a law of civic organizations and institutions, and this is the draft law that generated a wide debate between the government and the civic society’s institutions.

In addition to the above, the parliament issued a number of diverse draft laws. Among the most important were a draft law on reorganizing administrative representation and punitive courts, a draft law on founding a visual artists’ syndicate, a draft law on military enlistment that addresses the existing law’s disregard of military enlistment evasion to avoid the dangers of wars, crises, and natural disasters.

The parliament in this session also examined 45 draft law proposals with diverse topics covering all economic, legal, and security domains. The most important of these were the following: Three draft law proposals to alter some of the provisions of the sales tax law, two proposals for two draft laws on regulating organ donation and transplant in humans, two draft law proposals on regulating blood (and its complexes) collection, storage, distribution, and donation, a draft law proposal on granting the capacity of judicial discipline to council members of civic organizations operating in environmental protection.

In addition to the above, the parliament discussed four decretal laws: the decree of the President of the Republic on law no. 168 of 1989 to amend the third paragraph of Article 49 of the law of the High Constitutional Court.

• The decretal law no. 169 of the President of the Republic to cancel the sums assigned to profiteers, leisure parties and services from the relative revenue tax and the government fee for financial resources development,
• The decretal law of the President of the Republic no.170 of 1998 links the budget of the Cable and Wireless Communications Department to the 19998/99 fiscal year, and finally
• The decretal law of the President of the Republic no. 71 on amending some of the provisions of law no. 171 on amending some of the provisions of law no. 232 of 1959 on the conditions governing armed forces’ service and leisure. It is important to note that wide discussions were conducted regarding these decretal laws. During these discussions, some members raised the issue of rationales for the validity of the urgency claims behind the issuing of these decrees, and that that it would have been better to handle these issues through a draft law or draft law proposal in order not to deprive the legislative institution of its amendment right and in order to offer it the full opportunity for discussion and amendment.

Agreements and Treaties
The parliament in this session discussed 97 agreements, an unprecedented number throughout its past sessions. These agreements covered a diverse range of domains. For example, some of these agreements specifically addressed terrorism, some addressed private voluntary associations, financial markets development, and some addressed the Social Fund for Development, etc. The parliament decided to combine the specialized committees’ reports with agreements on the same topics and discuss them jointly to avoid repetition, provided that the parliament is allowed to consider each agreement individually. The parliament also ratified bilateral trade agreements between Egypt and Arab countries .

The parliament’s fifth regular session (the current one) is the last in its seventh legislative phase, which ends in mid-June 2000. The parliament has discussed and approved since the session’s onset to the present date 14 draft laws that addressed a number of important topics such as transit, the diplomat and consular system, the founding of conciliation committees for some conflicts, petrol, and central deposit and limitation of monetary bills.

Among the most important laws issued by the parliament in this session and which received wide attention from the public following the parliament’s meetings and discussion was the draft law on regulating some of the conditions and lawsuit proceedings in personal status cases. This draft law aimed at compounding the foundations regulating the conditions and lawsuit proceedings in personal status cases to ensure facilitated processing of them and modernization of the family court in charge of examining the numerous personal status conflicts between spouses.

The draft law generated wide discussion among the various groups represented in the parliament, among them National Party representatives. Discussion topics centered around divorce and on the wife’s and children’s right (as minors) to travel without the husband’s permission.

The discussion, which extended over six meetings, ended in the parliament’s approval of the draft law, while two members refrained from voting (the Liberals Party/a worker), (Labor Party/a worker), and one member voted against the draft law (independent member) .

The second law approved by the parliament in the current assembly, and which also generated wide discussion, was the draft law on amending some of the provisions of law no. 73 of 1956 on regulating the practice of political rights and law no. 38 of 1972 on the parliament. The draft law aimed at—in accordance with the Minister of Justice’s declaration made prior to the law’s discussion—furthering several objectives. These were the following: supporting and enhancing judicial supervision of the ballot process during elections and plebiscites, eliminating the legitimation of the capacity of candidates from worker and farmer groups to prevent them from being captive of its reality, clearing some of the existing legal texts of electoral crimes from their incongruence with the constitution from the High Constitutional Court’s verdicts, and raising the required insurance fee for submitting a nomination application to 1000 guineas for the parliament and 100 guineas for the Advisory Council in order to guarantee the candidate’s seriousness and to accommodate variation in the currency’s value.

In their discussions of the draft law, members made a number of remarks. Of these remarks, the most important was that the draft law, despite being considered a step toward democracy, made a partial amendment and should have instead made comprehensive amendment, particularly since it does not reflect the views of the President of the Republic, announced in the beginning of the parliament’s current assembly, ranging from affirming the need to continue the search for the most appropriate means of fair, true, and authentic representation of the Egyptian people. Members also made a number of other remarks on expanding judicial supervision, restrictions on financing the elections campaign, and the necessity of intensifying punishment of those who forge or help forge voters’ will.

Members also made many other remarks on the definition reached by the Committee for Workers and Farmers and on that definition’s adequacy. Some opposition representatives noted that the draft law submitted by the opposition regarding the same subject offers more room for democracy and that the Committee for Constitutional Affairs should have, if it had found incongruence between the draft law submitted by the government and the draft law proposals submitted by members on the same topic, prepared a special report on this issue and submitted it to the parliament since the latter is the decision-making power in this case. Parliament discussions concluded in approval of the draft law, with refrain from voting of three members .