The newly-appointed heads of Egypt s press and media organisations were sworn in before parliament on Sunday. The list of heads, who were named by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on 22 June, include Karam Gabr, head of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation; Abdel-Sadeq El-Shorbagi, head of the Higher Press Organisation; and Hussein Zein, head of the Higher Media Organisation. Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said the procedure comes in line with the media and press laws, which stipulate that these heads take the constitutional oath before parliament ahead of exercising their duties. Abdel-Aal said the appointment of the new heads come at a very difficult time for Egypt’s national media and press organisations. "We have the coronavirus crisis which hit the national media and press organisations very hard, not to mention that Egypt faces very severe hostile media attacks and this requires the national media to stand firm in the face of these attacks,” said Abdel-Aal, telling the new media heads that “I think this is not an easy job but I am sure that you will do this job very sincerely and honestly.” Abdel-Aal described Gabr as one of the journalists who declared war against “the terrorist group,” a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, very early on. “This came through the weekly magazine of Rose El-Youssef which led the battle against the terrorist organisation,” he said, expressing hope that “the Egyptian national television and press organisations will be back playing a pioneering role in shaping in Arab public opinion.” “We need Egypt’s soft power to be used again to stand up to the media war we face,” said Abdel-Aal, adding that “I also hope that Egyptian radio stations broadcasting in African languages will come back.” Gabr commented: “Egypt needs the unity of all national forces because we are all partners in correcting misguided conceptions and enlightening the public opinion.” “I assure you that we will do our best to stand up to all negative practices and make sure that there is no media chaos in Egypt,” said Gabr, adding that “the coming period is very critical because Egypt will see the election of a new parliament and a new Senate.” Information Minister Osama Heikal said there will be greater cooperation between the state and press and media organisations in the coming period. “The problems facing the Egyptian media are at the top of the state’s priorities and we hope that we all will be able to solve them,” said Heikal. The minister also said that he and his family have fully recovered from the coronavirus. He had been in self-isolation after contracting the disease.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified Thursday four laws governing legislative elections, including a law on the formation of the Senate, the country’s new Upper house of parliament. The ratified laws include House of Representatives Law 46/2014, and two other laws on the Exercise of Political Rights (Law 45/2014) and the Performance of the National Election Committee (Law 198/2017). According to the Senate law, two thirds of the chamber will be elected in a direct secret ballot through a closed-list system and individual system, while the remaining third will be appointed by the president. The senate’s term lasts for five years. The Senate law also stipulates that women should have no less than 10 percent of Senate seats. The amendments to the House of Representative Law states that the number of the House s elected MPs shall stand at 568, instead of 540, in line with Article 102 of Egypt s 2019-amended constitution. According to Article 3 of the 2019 amendments to the House law, 50 percent of this number (284 MPs) will be elected via the individual system, and 50 percent (284 MPs) will be elected through the closed list system. The article also stipulates that 25 percent of the total number of the House s seats shall be reserved for women. The president shall be authorised to appoint no more than five percent of the total number of MPs. Meanwhile, Article 4 states that the individual candidacy system shall be implemented in a number of electoral districts, while the closed list system will be in application in four districts, two of which will elect 84 MPs (42 each) and two will elect 200 MPs (100 each). The House saw disagreements among representatives of political parties over the amendments to the election system that will regulate upcoming parliamentary elections before the changes were passed by a majority of MPs. The amendments to the laws on the Exercise of Political Rights and the Performance of the National Election Committee (NEC) state that the NEC shall decide on appeals filed on the results of the election within 24 hours, and in doing so it shall observe the requirements of integrity, neutrality and fairness of the ballot process. The sitting House of Representatives was elected in late 2015 for a five-year term. The final drafts of the laws governing legislative elections were drafted and submitted to the House for a vote in June by the parliamentary majority ‘Support Egypt’ coalition.

The official gazette on Tuesday published a decision by the prime minister for the establishment of a joint stock company for metro lines and rail transport management, operation and maintenance. Under the decision, the Ministry of Finance, the New Urban Communities Authority, the National Investment Bank and the National Authority for Tunnels, will establish the company together.