Today, citizens enjoy a substantial degree of freedom of expression, and the judiciary has demonstrated its independence from the executive branch, although the media has recently been the target of increased government scrutiny. The government's anti-terrorism campaign has raised serious allegations of such human rights abuses as torture, arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention without trial, and the use of military courts to try civilians accused of terrorism. In 1997, the People's Assembly approved a three-year extension of the Emergency Law, and Egypt has been under an official state of emergency continuously since 1981, the year in which the late President Sadat was assassinated. The Egyptian Constitution provides for a strong president who is empowered to appoint one or more vice presidents, the Prime Minister, the cabinet, and the governors of Egypt's 26 provinces. In 1993, President Hosni Mubarak was endorsed in a national referendum, in which he ran unopposed, to serve a third six-year term as President by the People's Assembly.
Assembly members sit for five-year terms.
The next People's Assembly elections are scheduled for the year 2000. The NDP has been in power since its establishment in 1978, commands large majorities in the Assembly and the Shura Council, and effectively controls the local governments, mass media, organized labor, and the large public sector. The NDP is an umbrella political party containing within its ranks members who favor greater economic and political reform, as well as those who advocate continued government ownership of the public sector and an active government role in directing the economy. There is more than a dozen authorized opposition political parties representing a range of views. But most are small and enjoy limited visibility.