By AFPMore by this AuthorCAIRO,Members of Egypt's parliament on Tuesday approved changes to the Constitution that will allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2030, state media reported. The changes to extend presidential terms are part of amendments initially introduced in February by a parliamentary bloc supportive of President Sisi and updated this week after several rounds of debates. OTHER CHANGESMPs approved other sweeping changes to the Constitution including allowing the military a greater influence in Egyptian political life as well as granting Mr Sisi greater control over the judiciary. "The final votes on all the amendments package have yet to be tallied," MP Mohamed Abu Hamed told AFP. A former military chief, Mr Sisi became President in 2014, a year after having led the military ouster of Egypt's first freely-elected president, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi.

Source: Daily Nation April 16, 2019 18:22 UTC