Cairo -
The reactions of the Egyptian political forces at home and abroad varied, between supporters and opponents, regarding President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's rare call for a political dialogue, in light of unprecedented economic challenges the country is going through.
The reactions were divided into 3 sections: the first is absolutely supportive, the second is cautiously welcomed, and the majority of them are from the political forces inside that have been marginalized since Sisi came to power in 2014, and the third is skeptical and suspicious of the call for a vague political dialogue with unclear details, or the parties involved in it.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the largest political opposition group in Egypt, has been silent so far about the Sisi initiative, which his supporters describe as an unconditional initiative, but without the slightest indication of the possibility of inviting the Brotherhood or not, which has repeatedly confirmed that it is open to any political dialogue. with the system.
A leading source in the group to which the late President Mohamed Morsi belonged - who asked not to be named - told Al Jazeera Net that the group is considering responding to Sisi's invitation through an official statement that will be issued soon.
September 2021, Al-Sisi said - live at a meeting to launch a "national strategy for human rights" in the country for the first time - that "society over the past 90 and 100 years has been imbued with a certain specific thought," referring to the age of thought of the Brotherhood, which was founded in 1928.
He added, "I am not different with these people, but on the condition that they respect my path and do not intersect with me and do not target me (...) I will accept his idea, but he does not impose it on me, and does not pressure me with it, not me as a person, but on Egypt and society."
In response, the prominent leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Youssef Nada, said at the time in a message entitled “Egypt to Where?”, in response to Sisi’s references to the Brotherhood, that the door is open for dialogue with the presidency of the Egyptian regime, and it is spoiled by setting preconditions.
The Egyptian authorities usually say that they exclude from any political dialogue anyone involved in terrorism and bearing arms in the face of the state, and they try a large number of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and tens of thousands of Islamists in exceptional courts on charges related to what they describe as "terrorism".
During the breakfast ceremony of the Egyptian family, the day before yesterday, Tuesday, Sisi assigned the management of the National Youth Congress, in coordination with the various political party and youth currents, to conduct a political dialogue on the priorities of national action during the current stage, and to submit the results of this dialogue to him personally.
It is worth noting that the National Youth Conference, which is organized under the umbrella of the National Training Academy, is supervised by security agencies such as the General Intelligence and National Security (formerly State Security), according to sources for Al Jazeera Net.
In its first statement on Sisi’s assignment, the National Training Academy said that a number of meetings will be held between all poles of the various political and youth forces within a national dialogue aimed at developing a national ideas agenda on the part of all political and youth forces to deal with all pressing issues facing the Egyptian state in light of Various global changes on all political and economic aspects.
It is noteworthy that the National Training Academy was established by Presidential Decree No. 434 of 2017 and aims to qualify and train leaders in the Egyptian state with the aim of creating distinguished administrative and leadership cadres.
release of detainees
The Egyptian president also announced the reactivation of the work of the presidential pardon committee, which was formed in late 2016, provided that it expands its work base in cooperation with the competent agencies and relevant civil society organizations.
Al-Sisi affirmed that the nation accommodates everyone and that “difference in opinion does not spoil the nation’s cause,” as he put it, expressing at the same time his happiness at the release of a batch of detainees from Egypt during the past days.
And Egyptian human rights and political sources said last Sunday that the Public Prosecution decided to release 41 people, including activists, two days after Sisi spoke about the country's need for a political dialogue.
Today, Thursday, the Egyptian media said that Sisi had pardoned more than 3,000 prisoners, including prominent leftist activist Hossam Mounes, who last year decided to imprison him for 4 years on charges of "spreading false news", which is usually directed to opponents in Egypt, according to the agency. French press.
Al-Sisi stressed that he is keen - on a personal level - to activate political reform programs, indicating his desire to launch a dialogue for all political forces and present its results to the House of Representatives and the Senate for further discussion so that it will be activated with the launch of the new republic.
A message to the opposition
In a rare scene, during the ceremony, Sisi welcomed former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi (his rival in the 2014 presidential elections), and they chatted for a minute after finishing his speech and getting off the podium on his way to leave.
The Egyptian family’s breakfast ceremony witnessed the issuance of a number of presidential decisions and assignments to the government regarding dealing with the economic crisis and providing support to wheat farmers in Egypt and ways to settle national industries, in addition to assigning the government to start offering shares from state-owned companies and the armed forces on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.
The invitation is the first of its kind
Al-Sisi’s call for a political dialogue on the priorities of national action is the first of its kind since he came to power in 2014, and comes in conjunction with the passage of the Egyptian economy in a trend described by reports of periodicals, newspapers, and international financial and economic institutions as “dangerous” due to the repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine, and the continuing repercussions of the pandemic. Corona Virus.
It is worth noting that the army statement that Sisi delivered when he was Minister of Defense in July 2013, which included suspending the constitution and removing the elected civilian president, Mohamed Morsi, spoke at the time about a road map for the transitional phase that included the formation of a higher committee for national reconciliation, and since that time the committee has not been formed and reconciliation has not taken place. .
A number of deputies of the House of Representatives and the Senate welcomed Al-Sisi’s initiative, and the Undersecretary of the Senate, Representative Phoebe Fawzy, said in press statements that the president’s emphasis on establishing a political dialogue with all forces without exception or discrimination indicates the depth of what the next stage of openness to various Political forces, she said.
In turn, the head of the Parliamentary Committee of the Wafd Party, Suleiman Wahdan, praised what Sisi said at the breakfast ceremony, and considered it a positive step in preparation for national dialogue with all political spectrums without discrimination.
As for the Secretary-General of the Karama Party, Muhammad Bayoumi (opposition from within), he said that any call for dialogue cannot be rejected by the Karama Party, but it is necessary to know the agenda and issues that will be discussed, and to enable everyone to participate.
During a meeting of the Supreme Authority of the Karama Party, on Friday, to discuss the political and partisan situation, in the presence of a number of leaders, Hamdeen Sabahi touched on the issue of political dialogue raised by Sisi and said: "We are not against dialogue, which is necessary and inevitable, and we will respond to any dialogue we are called to." .
While a member of the National Council for Human Rights and a former leader of the "Enough Movement", George Ishaq, called for taking executive steps to translate the president's words into reality on the ground so that we move forward and work to make this dialogue effective and not formal.
In turn, opposition parliamentarian Diaa El Din Daoud pointed to the importance of building on the president's words and taking serious steps towards launching the national dialogue, calling for it to be sponsored in any way by the presidency to create a serious dialogue.
For his part, Professor of Political Science at Cairo University, Dr. Hassan Nafaa, pledged the seriousness of the call for a political dialogue to release all political detainees, and he said in a tweet via his Twitter account: "The release of all political detainees and prisoners of conscience is the right and real step that can confirm The sincerity and seriousness of the call for a comprehensive national dialogue that does not exclude anyone.
The release of all political detainees and prisoners of conscience is the right and real step that can confirm the sincerity and seriousness of the call for a comprehensive national dialogue that does not exclude anyone.
— Hassan Nafaa (@hassanafaa) April 27, 2022
While skeptics invoked the truth of the call for dialogue, what happened during the past days was the arrest of the media, Hala Fahmy (a former regime supporter), and the journalist Safaa Al-Korbiji, following a series of video clips that criticized the Egyptian authorities, in addition to the arrest of 3 people from the team of the "Great El Ghalaba" page. The satirist who presents satirical videos about the price hike on the “TikTok” application, according to human rights pages and websites on social media.
As for the opposition abroad, it was suspicious of many. The head of the Union of Egyptian Forces, Ayman Nour, said that no political party was invited to participate in the political dialogue announced by Sisi.
Ayman Nour added - in an interview with Al Jazeera - that Sisi promised to present the details of this dialogue during the Egyptian family's breakfast party, but what has been presented so far does not live up to the level of details, as he put it.
Remarks on inviting political forces to a political dialogue whose results will be presented to the president:
- Are there political forces?
Where have all these years been?
The “forces” that do not negotiate without the government’s permission are not forces.
If there is no acknowledgment of mistakes, what will the dialogue revolve around?
Political forces in any democracy present themselves as an alternative, not an advisory one
— Hesham Mesbah (@Hesham_mesbah) April 27, 2022
The dictator resorts to dialogue with his opponent when he feels a popular crisis that may affect his rule, and he has to contain and absorb anger, after overcoming the crisis he returns to his repressive policies towards them. The dictator does not understand the language of dialogue, but only understands the language of the stick. National Dialogue..etc
— mahmoud gamal (@mahmoud14gamal) April 27, 2022
The system's dialogue with itself
The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and the former parliamentarian, Dr. Muhammad Imad Saber, described the call as a “deaf dialogue” or the regime’s dialogue with itself, adding - in his talk to Al Jazeera Net - that all indications on the ground do not give us a slight chance to believe this call, according to saying.
Saber pointed out that the invitation is motivated by an unprecedented crisis economic situation that the country is going through, and through that invitation, he is trying to pass messages inside and outside to contain anger and pass the current crisis with minimal losses and not to provoke any disturbances that would harm his position.
The head of the Political Bureau of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council, Dr. Amr Adel, went on to say: "If we want a dialogue between the forces of society, we must liberate society first. There is no dialogue under the barrel of guns and under the control of one party."
He added - to Al Jazeera Net - "There is no dialogue before Egypt is liberated from military rule, then we can dialogue for the future of Egypt and its people. What is happening is the regime's dialogue with itself, and there is nothing on the ground that supports a real intention to conduct a national dialogue."