Sisi wil probably be Egypt's president for another 12 years

Egypt's parliament has overwhelmingly voted to approve draft constitutional changes that could extend President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's time in office by another 12 years. Sisi (64) at present is due to stand down in 2022 when his second four-year term ends. But 485 of the country's 596 lawmakers which overwhelmely are supporters of the president, voted on Thursday to lengthen the presidential terms to six years and let Mr al-Sisi serve another two of these terms.
Several Egyptian human rights groups have spoken out against the decision.
The changes, first proposed earlier this month, will now be drafted into legislation and put to another parliamentary vote. If approved again, Egypt will then hold a referendum.
Article 140 of Egypt's constitution, approved in a referendum in 2014, currently states that the president serves four-year terms and may only be re-elected once. But under proposed changes, the  leader would be allowed to stay in power until 2034.
He would also get new powers to appoint judges and the public prosecutor. The changes would also give Egypt's military broad powers to "[safeguard] the constitution and name the minister of Defense." Other, less important amendments included the introduction of a second parliamentary chamber, a 25% quota for women in parliament and "appropriate representation" for minority Coptic Christians, young people and those with disabilities.
President Sisi's supporters in parliament argue the longer term limits are needed to allow him more time to complete economic reforms and development projects.
But eleven Egyptian human rights groups, in a joint statement, said the provisions were "disingenuous attempts to sugarcoat [the government's] authoritarian power-grab".
Signatories include the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms.
There was also parliamentary criticism. "We are placing absolute powers in the hands of one person... at a time when the people were expecting 'bread, freedom, social justice and human dignity'," Ahmed Tantawi, an opposition MP, said on Wednesday, using the slogan of the 2011 uprising that overthrew then-President Hosni Mubarak.
Sisi, a former army chief, led the military overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013 following protests against his rule. Since then, an unprecedented number of people, some 60.000و became political prisoners, an unknown number of people were executed, journalist were sent away and replaced, political parties forbidden and blogs closed. Sisi was re-elected last April with aft 97% of the vote. Several of his rivals dropped out or were arrested.