CAIRO — A new crisis has erupted following a draft law proposed in the parliament this month that would give President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the right to temporarily form a new Supreme Press Council until the issuance of a law regulating the media and press. A draft of the latter was presented by the Supreme Press Council to the Cabinet 10 months ago, but it is still being reviewed by the State Council before being sent to parliament.
The controversial draft law was submitted June 12 by member of parliament Mustafa Bakri, a member of the Committee on Culture and Information and himself a journalist, after collecting the signature of 324 legislators — more than half the 595-member parliament. This proposal would change Article 68 of Law 96 of 1996 on the organization of the press, giving Sisi the authority to form the Supreme Press Council anew and give it full authority for it to be able to make journalistic changes. This comes after the terms of many board chairmen of journalistic institutions ended in January; the terms of the editors of the national newspapers also terminate at the end of this month.