More than 400 members of the majority "Support Egypt" coalition in Egypt s parliament held a meeting on Sunday to probe the possibility of forming a political party.
Mohamed El-Sewedy, head of the coalition, told reporters that "a legislative and constitutional study will be conducted to see whether the majority Support Egypt coalition could turn into a political party. Intensive contacts will be held with political parties in the coming period to discuss this issue.
"Today s meeting could be described as a tea-party meeting and it aimed at preparing members for the idea of turning the coalition into a political party," said El-Sewedy.
Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal argued that the coalition meets all the conditions necessary to make it a strong political party.
"My point of view is that Egypt s political life can never be healthy without having a parliamentary majority party, and the Support Egypt coalition is well suited to become this party," said Abdel-Aal.
Saad El-Gammal, head of parliament s Arab Affairs Committee and a leading Support Egypt official, told reporters that the meeting also involved discussions on the future relationship between the government of Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and parliament.
"We told members that they should be keen on attending parliament s plenary meetings in the cg months so that laws can be discussed and voted on in a much better way," said El-Gammal.
The Support Egypt coalition was formed following the end of Egypt s parliamentary elections in January 2016 to defend the policies of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. The coalition comprises around 10 political parties, notably the Free Egyptians Party (65 seats) and the Future of a Nation Party (53 seats).
