CAIRO -

The "Civil Democratic Movement" in Egypt (established in late 2017 and includes several parties and public figures) announced on Sunday the acceptance of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's invitation to a political dialogue, a call he made during what was known as the "Egyptian family breakfast party" in The last week of Ramadan.

At the same time, dozens of Egyptian political activists and opponents expressed their support for the idea of ​​dialogue, stressing at the same time that any political dialogue must be preceded and paralleled by a series of serious measures and measures to build confidence between the ruling authority and the rest of the components of Egyptian political and civil society.

According to what the former politician and presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi published on his Facebook page, the movement accepted the principle of "political dialogue" out of responsibility before the people, in the interest of the nation's interests, respect for the constitution, and in recognition of the magnitude of the major crisis that represents a serious threat to the country's present and future, and in pursuit of a national plan. Comprehensive put Egypt on the right path that it deserves and appreciates.

The movement also emphasized the authority’s responsibility now to lift the injustice of all prisoners of conscience, as this is a right for them, their families and their loved ones. Rather, it is a right for Egypt, whose conscience has softened this pain, as well as a necessary sign of the seriousness in considering this “political dialogue” an introduction to opening a new page. Befitting the dear Egypt and its great people.

The signatories to the statement stressed that in order to participate in the dialogue, it must be serious and real, and end with practical results that are put directly into practice, which in their opinion requires a number of procedural and objective controls that help make it a means to save the country and solve its problems, not just beautify the interface.

The list of signatories to the statement included the Dignity Parties, the Socialist Popular Alliance, the Conservatives, the Constitution, the National Accord, the Egyptian Socialist Party, the Bread and Freedom Party (under establishment), in addition to a number of public figures members of the movement (they were not mentioned in the statement published by Sabahi).

According to Wikipedia, the aforementioned movement is an Egyptian liberal political movement that was established in 2017, and included a number of parties that were part of the civil democratic movement that was previously established in 2014, namely the Constitution Party, the Karama Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and the Bread and Freedom Party.

Dialogue terms

The statement of the civil democratic movement set 7 controls that must be met in the dialogue, foremost of which is that it be under the umbrella of the presidency, considering that reality confirms that it is the only party capable of implementing what is agreed upon during the dialogue, and also demanded that the dialogue take place between an equal number of those who represent the authority with all Its components and the opposition, and that the dialogue be between equal partners without confiscation, deception or treason.

The movement demanded that the dialogue be launched during the next few days, that the sessions be broadcast through the various media, and that a technical secretariat be formed that would be responsible for preparing for the dialogue, managing it, formulating its outputs, and writing a report about it to be published periodically to public opinion.

The movement presented a proposed distribution of the dialogue agenda on basic axes: political reform and democratic transformation, economic reform and social justice, legislative and institutional reform, human rights and public freedoms, national security and national interests, deepening citizenship and combating discrimination.

The movement also demanded that the government and heads of parliamentary bodies attend the dialogue sessions, share their opinion and provide the information that is requested of them in a clear and transparent manner, so that the dialogue parties take their decisions on the basis of correct knowledge, and their participation as competent authorities if the final recommendations are agreed upon in the form of legislative amendments or executive procedures.

Calm on social media

Social networking sites in Egypt did not interact widely with the statement, and most of those interacting with it were satisfied with republishing it without commenting on it.

A number of social media pioneers praised the civil movement's statement and the controls it set for the dialogue to be a real dialogue, and some of them questioned the movement's position if the Egyptian regime rejects these controls.

On the other hand, others saw that the civil movement’s statement was an “exaggerated response” to a call for an ambiguous dialogue whose date or mechanisms had not been announced, and that the movement had to be satisfied with a statement welcoming the call and waiting for the mechanisms of dialogue to be announced, as some saw that some of the conditions it set The statement is "hard-line", and may cause a retraction of the dialogue if there is an intention for it at all.

Some asserted that no political dialogue can take place before the release of thousands of detainees in Egyptian prisons because of their political views, who were not implicated in any other crimes.

Some saw the civil movement as just another face of the Salvation Front that participated in the coup against the rule of the late President Mohamed Morsi, and which the Egyptian regime uses from time to time to relieve political pressure on it.

The statement of the Civil Democratic Movement today regarding political dialogue is a respectable, specific and serious statement. I hope those who attack it read it first


and make sure that the people who accepted the invitation to dialogue have not and will not give up on all of us aspiration for change (real change)


Link to the statement


https://t.co/kVXiHN5ROx

— Rasha Ezzat Elgazzar (@rasha_elgazar) May 8, 2022

The movement - no blame - the city announces the acceptance of political dialogue with the Sisi regime!!


Its most prominent symbols are Farid Zahran and the old communists!!


The Prophet’s prayer.. I feel like: in the voice of Tawfiq Al-Daqn, but there is


salvation

— Ahmed Hassan Al-Sharqawi (@sharkawiahmed) May 8, 2022

Satan called while standing at the door of the civil movement café:


Who among you obeys me and has a great deal of fraud, bankruptcy, slander, delusion, unfairness, absurdity, viscosity and hypocrisy?

Only two answered him,


and he took them by the hand to be a member of the presidential pardon committee.


Do you know them?


Pray for the Prophet #Father of History

- Dr .

Muhammad Al-Jawadi (@GwadyM) May 9, 2022

The Salvation Front changed its name to the Civil Movement.


Think of Muhammad Henedy when his name was Khader in the movie Askar in the Camp. When he liked to disguise and land in two mountains in his village to change his appearance, but everyone he meets on the street says, How are you, Khader 😒 pic.twitter.com/OLUxH2mJWC

— Abdul Basir (@albasirhany) May 8, 2022

A vision, not a condition

In turn, the former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi - one of the movement's members - was keen to mitigate the severity of the statement in statements to the Egyptian newspaper "Al-Shorouk" (in particular), in which he said that the movement did not set preconditions for dialogue, but rather put forward visions, ideas and factors for its success, explaining that the success of the dialogue Authority is the success of the opposition and vice versa, and that the crisis that the country is going through concerns both sides, and that the people want to see the authority and the opposition in the right place in order to overcome the crises the country is going through.

Sabahi indicated - in his statements - that the civil movement parties did not put forward demands that go beyond the constitution in letter or spirit, and did not use the language of conditions, and consider it unhelpful to both parties. "We enter the dialogue with good intentions until we reach better results for the benefit of our country."

The former presidential candidate stressed that the civil movement parties and their well-known positions of authority over the past years are clearly keen on the people, the state and the homeland, and that they oppose the position of loyalty to the people, concern for the state, and the search for a better life for all.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had directed, during his speech at a presidential iftar party, to hold a "national dialogue with all political forces without exception or discrimination regarding the priorities of national action at the current stage", in a rare invitation since his accession to power.

He called on the Egyptian president to "report the results of this dialogue to him personally," with his promise to attend the final stages of it, in addition to directing him to reactivate the work of the presidential pardon committee (formed in late 2016).

In his speech, Sisi said that "the nation accommodates all of us," and that "a difference of opinion does not spoil the nation an issue," revealing that the results of the dialogue will be presented to Parliament in its two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, in reference to the possibility of issuing laws or other changes.

Activists' statement

In parallel with the statement of the Civil Democratic Movement, dozens of Egyptian political activists and opponents called on the Egyptian authorities to take "serious confidence-building measures" between them and them as a condition for dialogue.

More than 60 Egyptian activists and opponents inside and outside the country signed a joint statement published on Monday, stressing that "any political dialogue must be preceded and paralleled by a series of serious measures and measures to build confidence between the ruling authority and the rest of the Egyptian political and civil society components."

Among the measures demanded by the signatories to the statement: to stop the use of "arbitrary detention" and "pretrial detention", and to cancel cases that have passed two years without referring to trial.

For his part, Egyptian-Palestinian political activist Ramy Shaath, who was released in early January after being detained for more than 900 days, told AFP, "We want a dialogue between partners, not a dialogue between prisoners and their jailers."

Shaath, one of the signatories to the statement, added that "releasing about 40 activists is not worth anything in a country where 60,000 political prisoners are held and new people are arrested every day."

Human rights organizations estimate the number of political prisoners in Egypt at about 60,000, but Sisi always denies this.

Last September, Sisi presented the "National Human Rights Strategy", stressing that education, health and electricity are more important rights than the right of assembly, which is almost completely banned in the country.