CAIRO

The former head of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court was elected Tuesday as the country’s new parliament speaker.  

Farida Shobashi, who was chairman of the session as the oldest member of parliament, in a public statement after the voting announced that Hanafy Ali El-Gebali was elected with the majority of votes, leaving his four rivals behind in the first round.

El-Gebali, who won with 508 votes out of 576, in his speech thanked all parliamentary members.

In Egypt’s parliament, where there are 596 deputies, 28 deputies are directly appointed by the president.