Members of the parliament stand and pray during the first Egyptian parliament session after the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo January 23, 2012.

Egypt’s new parliament held its opening session on Sunday, state television reported, more than three years after a court dissolved the old Islamist-dominated chamber.

The body is expected to choose a speaker on its first day back, and now has 15 days to approve hundreds of laws issued by executive decree during the period when it was suspended.

Egypt’s last parliament was elected in 2011-12 in the country’s first free vote following a popular uprising that ended autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

But a court dissolved that parliament in mid-2012 after ruling that the election laws at the time were unconstitutional.

A year later, Mubarak’s elected successor, Mohammad Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, was himself overthrown by the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The new parliament, which will be dominated by an alliance loyal to now President Sisi, has 568 elected members plus another 28 appointed directly by him.

The new assembly was chosen in elections that critics said were undermined by a security crackdown on Islamist and other opposition groups.

A general view taken on January 10, 2016 shows members of Egypt’s new parliament meeting during their inaugural session in the capital Cairo.
/ AFP / STRINGER

Related articles across the web

• Egypt convicts 2 officers of torture and murder of detainee
• Rifts widen within Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
• Military courts deliver strong punishments to alleged MB members for terrorist attacks
• "Obama: It Was You" by Mike Gallagher
• Friday Prayers for Egypt: Coalition
• What remains of the Arab Spring?
• GOP debate: Should US deal with dictators?
• Low turnout in Egypt parliament poll dominated by pro-government candidates
• "I started the Arab Spring. Now death is everywhere, and extremism blooming"
• 'I started the Arab Spring. Now death is everywhere, and extremism blooming'