s reasonable to speculate that the permanent constitution will mandate the office of vice president. The main debate will center on the vice-president selection procedures and the powers assigned to him. One idea is to follow the US model of electing the president and vice-president on a single ticket. Followers of this view argue that the vice-president should assume the presidency in the case of removal, death, resignation or inability of the president to perform his duties. Hence, the public should confer popular legitimacy through the electoral process. The opinion gives the elected the authority to appoint one or more vice presidents and remove them from office at-will. Supporters of such stand argue that the president should be able to select officials who can help him perform his duties. A middle of the road solution is to allow the president to select a vice-president or more with the approval of the parliament.
It is my contention here that the vice-president selection procedures would depend on the prerogatives granted to the office of the presidency and the line of succession. If Egypt continued its tradition of strong presidential power it will be logical to devise procedures that will allow the public or their representatives an input in the selection process. On the other hand, if Egypt would move to a form of parliamentary system, a few will be deeply concerned with the appointment procedures of the vice president. Besides, if the vice-president will be first in the line of succession, this will necessitate curtailing presidential discretion in the appointment process. However, if the vice president is conceived as an assistant to the president without special claim to the highest office presidential control over the selection process might be accepted.
Egypt's first representative assembly established shortly before the British occupation of Egypt in 1882 was unicameral. This practice continued until the drafting of the 1923 Constitution, which moved Egypt into a bicameral legislature of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The constitution adopted the principle of equal competences for the two houses with a few exceptions. These bicameral arrangements lasted until the July 1952 Revolution. Nasser moved Egypt again into a unicameral legislature. The 1971 Constitution maintained the same practice entrusting the People's Assembly with the sole legislative authority. This lasted until 1980 when Sadat amended the constitution and enshrined the Shura Council.15
The constitutional amendments and the constitutional proclamations in 2011 continued this practice of bicameral legislature, even though many intellectuals and politicians advocated the amputation of the Shura Council. While this issue was not highly visible during the transition process it will resurface during the process of constitutional drafting. It could be argued that the FJP is in favor of a unicameral legislature to decrease the fragmentation of the political process and ensure the ability of parliamentary majority to swiftly draft and implement legislation. On the other hand, minority parties might see advantage in a bicameral legislature that restrain the majority in the lower house. While it is too early to predict, it seems reasonable to forecast that the new constitution will continue the practice of bicameral legislature, albeit with structural changes to the composition and progratives of the Shura counciL The 198° Constitutional Amendments and the 2011 Constitutional Proclamation gave the president of the republic the authority to appoint a third of the members. This practice is likely to be met with opposition from many political forces in Egypt. Furthermore, if not abolished, the powers of the upper house could be expected to grow from the modest generally advisory role to the position of a junior partner in the legislative process.
The election processes for the parliament is also debatable. Egypt's electoral procedures have witnessed many twists and turns in recent history. In the 1980s, Egypt experimented with proportional repr