Egypt's first legislature in nearly four years held its inaugural session Sunday, led by an alliance that is staunchly loyal to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The parliament's convening has been described by el-Sisi as the final step in a "road map to democracy" that began when he orchestrated the removal of Egypt's first freely elected president, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi, in 2013, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It also emphasized the former military leader's increasing command of his country, as Egypt nears the fifth anniversary of the 2011 uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.
The assembly, elected in November and December, includes prominent business leaders and media figures and replaces one dominated by Islamists that was dissolved by court ruling in June 2012.
The first job of the chamber will be to ratify the more than 300 presidential decrees issued by el-Sisi and Interim President Adly Mansour, including a law that severely limits street demonstrations and a terror law that reduces press freedoms while increasing police powers. Under the constitution, they have 15 days to ratify these decrees.
The session was disrupted by one outspoken member, Murtada Mansour, who at first refused to read the MPs' oath as he was angry at parts of the text that endorsed the ousting of Mubarak, which some politicians and media figures now brand as a mistake, according to BBC News.
The process of convening the parliament has occurred alongside crackdowns on Islamists and secular pro-democracy activists who were the impetus for the 2011 uprising, according to CTV News. Thousands have been killed and hundreds jailed in a series of skirmishes with security forces since 2011, and the once-popular Muslim Brotherhood is now officially branded a terrorist organization.
