Parliamentary committee passes amendment allowing president to form Supreme Press Council

The Egyptian Parliament’s culture and media committee approved an amendment to Egypt's press law on Tuesday, which will permit President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to form the next Supreme Press Council. 

The current council is to be dissolved at the end of this month, after it completes an extension of its term. The amendment is still to be voted on by Parliament’s general assembly.

This move comes as the unified media law, which was drafted last August by a committee of experts, waits in the hands of the government, which has has yet to refer it to Parliament for approval.

The amendment, proposed by MP Mostafa Bakry, involves Article 67 of the press law, stipulating that the president should form a temporary council until the unified media law is put into effect.

The new law will abolish the Supreme Press Council and divide its responsibilities between three new bodies. The law was drafted by a committee that included Journalists Syndicate head Yehia Qallash, Supreme Press Council Yehia Aref and other media figures.

Discussions around the amendment on Tuesday were heated, with objections from MPs Khaled Youssef, Youssef al-Qaid, Galila Osman and Osama Sharshar, who pointed out that the amendment passed within 24 hours, while the unified media law has been held up for months. Calling it undemocratic, MPs critical of the amendment accused Bakry of using it to block the new law.

Following the dissolution of the Shura Council, which is responsible for the management of national newspapers, in 2013, interim President Adly Mansour decreed the reconfiguration of the Supreme Press Council, with a two-year term. By the end of June, the council will have exceeded its mandate by one year, and national newspapers will no longer have a body that oversees them. 

The Journalists Syndicate has criticized the delay in the government’s approval of the unified media law.

Minister of Legal Affairs Magdy al-Agaty attended Tuesday’s session and told MPs that the law has already been approved by the Cabinet and will soon be sent to the State Council to be assessed regarding its constitutionality.