The House of Representatives () is the lower house of Egypt's bicameral parliament. Formation of the House The 2014 constitution that was passed in the 2014 constitutional referendum has put into place the following rules: the House that is elected following the ratification of the constitution must have at least 450 members. In addition, prospective members must be Egyptian, must be at least 25 years old and must hold an education certificate. Also, the president can appoint, at the most, five percent of the members in the chamber. The House sits for a five-year term but can be dissolved earlier by the president. All seats are voted on in each election. The House of Representatives members are elected by absolute majority of legitimate votes cast. The House may demand the resignation of the cabinet by adopting a motion of censure. For this reason, the Prime Minister of Egypt and his cabinet are necessarily from the dominant party or coalition in the House. When the president and house come from opposing parties (a situation which did arise historically, but not since the 1970s), this would lead to the situation known as cohabitation. Powers The House of Representatives has various competences stated in Chapter Five of the Constitution. According to article 86 the House of Representatives shall undertake: Legislation Review and approval of agreements and treaties Review and approval of the State plan and budget Discussion of the President of the Republic's statement and the government program Amendments to the Constitution Approval of declarations of war and emergency In practice, the People's Assembly had very little power prior to the 2011 Egyptian revolution. It was dominated by the National Democratic Party, and there was little substantive opposition to executive decisions. House of Representatives organization Speaker of the House The House of Representatives Speaker (HR Speaker) presides over the House and is elected from the House membership, along with two deputies during the first session of the season. The Speaker's role in session is to keep the peace and order to the parliamentary session, take part in discussion provided that he gives up his presidency to one of his deputies and doesn't return to his presidency until the discussion is finished as well as ordering an emergency session for one of the House' committees. In case of vacancy in the President's office, the Speaker serves as acting president until the presidential elections are