The Government of Today's Egypt

Egypt has a Constitution that was adopted in 1971. It defines how the country is ruled. It says that there will be a President, and the President will be elected every six years. A presidential nominee is chosen by a two-thirds majority vote of the People's Assembly, and then that nominee is elected by popular referendum. The People's Assembly is a part of the Egyptian government. 434 of the members are elected by the people, and 10 are appointed by the President. They approve new laws and budgets. The members of The People's Assembly are elected every 5 years.

The responsibility of ruling Egypt is shared by both a president and a prime minister. The Egyptian President holds a lot of power, because he supervises the formulation of laws and policies. He is also in charge of Egypt's Armed Forces (the military). The President, Muhammad Hosni Said Mubarak (Hosni Mubarak) was elected to office in 1981 and has been the President ever since. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was sworn into office in 2004. Because the President and Prime Minister share in running the country, this creates a system of checks and balances, keeping one ruling person or the other from getting too much power.

Egypt is divided up into 26 governorates. A governorate is like a county or a small state. The governor is the head of the governorate, and is chosen by the President. It has its own local government, like a local city council. Each governorate manages its public utilities and provides services to the people.