Vote on Constitutional Amendment Scheduled For Wednesday
The bureaus of the two chambers of Parliament, the National People’s Assembly and the Council of the Nation, will hold a special meeting on Monday to establish a joint parliamentary committee to study a draft law amending the Constitution.
This step comes in preparation for the ratification session scheduled for next Wednesday at the Palace of Nations, sources from parliament told Echorouk newspaper.
On the eve of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, members of both houses of Parliament received a text message regarding the scheduling of a special session to discuss and approve the draft amending the Constitution. This session will be preceded by the formation of a joint parliamentary committee composed of members from both houses, tasked with preparing a report to be presented to the legislature. This process is part of the established procedures for studying constitutional draft laws, particularly after political parties have submitted multiple proposals concerning this amendment.
In this context, the joint session of Parliament, comprising both chambers, is convened by presidential decree, following a formal summons from the President of the Republic. The Speaker of the Council of the Nation, who chairs the session, then issues a formal summons, thus ensuring the process’s full constitutional and institutional legitimacy. According to a post by MP Ahmed Rabhi on his official Facebook page, the session on March 23, 2026, will be dedicated to a meeting of the parliamentary bureaus—comprising the bureaus of the Council of the Nation and the National People’s Assembly—to finalise the organisational and procedural aspects of forming the joint parliamentary committee. The committee’s formation will be ratified immediately before the joint session starts, and the oldest member will chair this meeting.
In contrast, the session of March 25, 2026, will be dedicated to a joint public meeting of members of Parliament in both chambers to vote on the draft constitutional technical amendment, following the completion of the joint committee’s report and its presentation for discussion. Among the proposals included in the technical constitutional amendment are the introduction of a requirement to demonstrate a certain level of education for the president’s candidacy, as well as the regulation of the oath-taking ceremony by specifying the body before which the oath is taken and the authority that administers it. The amendment also proposes granting the president the power to call for early local elections.
The proposals also included removing the requirement for the Supreme Judicial Council’s approval of appointments to specialised positions, and proposing to prolong the term of the Speaker of the National Assembly to six (6) years instead of three (3) years. Additionally, the amendments aimed to improve the regulatory framework for the regular parliamentary session and ensure flexibility in its opening. The amendments also included a proposal to reorganise the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council, eliminating three categories within its structure, to expand the oversight responsibilities of the Independent National Election Authority, during the process of assigning logistical preparations to the administration.
A transitional provision was also included to be invoked when necessary, to fill the constitutional gap and provide a legal basis for the partial renewal of the elected members of the Council of the Nation. Regarding the conditions for ratifying the constitutional amendment, a quorum of three-quarters (3/4) of the members of both houses of Parliament is required, equivalent to 437 members out of a total of 583 (407 in the National People’s Assembly and 176 in the Council of the Nation), for the draft to be officially adopted.
Following ratification, the amendment is issued directly as a law and published in the Official Gazette, provided it does not conflict with the provisions of Article 223 of the 2020 Constitutional Amendment, which sets the limits and controls related to constitutional revisions.
In the same context, the technical constitutional amendment is a right vested in the President of the Republic, who may submit it either to a popular referendum or directly to Parliament, after consulting the Constitutional Court, in accordance with Article 221 of the Constitution.
It is worth mentioning that the draft technical constitutional amendment was submitted by the Presidency of the Republic on January 25, 2026, enriched by proposals from several major political parties, in the context of strengthening political and institutional consensus on its contents.