Sisi's initiative.. Criticism of the dialogue management and anticipation of the release of a thousand political prisoners

CAIRO -

Egyptian opponents and politicians, some of whom are close to power, criticized assigning the management of the expected political dialogue, which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke about, to a body affiliated with the presidency, amid anticipation of the possible release of 1,000 political prisoners.

Al-Sisi had launched an initiative calling for a “national political dialogue with all forces without exception or discrimination,” at the end of the elapsed month of Ramadan, a call with which political and societal forces at home and abroad interacted between supporters and skeptics, setting preconditions for participation.

Last week, the National Training Academy (affiliated with the Presidency, established in 2017) announced its assignment by Sisi, in coordination with "all currents and groups of society" to manage the dialogue.

While welcoming the political dialogue, the head of the Reform and Development Party, Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat, expressed his concern about "assigning its organization and management to youth institutions that belong and are run by the knowledge of certain agencies," referring to the training academy.

Al-Sadat said, in a statement yesterday, Monday, "I was and still welcomes and advocates the comprehensive national dialogue called for by President Sisi, but I am not satisfied and reassured about assigning its organization and management to some youth institutions, which belong and are run by the knowledge of certain agencies in the form of an open carnival."

The Egyptian politician warned that assigning the dialogue to an institution affiliated with the presidency "may not achieve its goal, even if this invitation and celebration were accompanied by a temporary and limited breakthrough represented in the release of some detainees in pretrial detention, or the issuance of a presidential pardon for those convicted in political cases."

He added, "The problem will remain present and recurring (..) We do not want to be pessimistic, but I hope to seize this opportunity to rebuild trust and build bridges of understanding that have been absent for long periods."

During the past months, Sadat played the role of mediator with the authority and security services to release some detainees, and he expected in a previous dialogue with Al Jazeera Net a kind of political breakthrough in the human rights file.

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— Mohamed Anwar El Sadat - Mohamed Anwar El Sadat (@anwaresadat) May 16, 2022

Last Saturday, 12 parties (some of them under establishment), public figures and former MPs, held a meeting at the headquarters of the Conservative Party, to crystallize a specific position on the presidential call for dialogue.

During the meeting, Ekmal Kartam, head of the Conservative Party, stressed the need for there to be a technical secretariat from the presidency to dialogue with the national forces, noting in subsequent televised statements, that the parties will not engage in dialogue with the National Training Academy, but rather want the second party (the presidency), which will engage in dialogue. with him.

The "Civil Democratic Movement" (which includes opposition left-wing parties and personalities) had previously expressed its refusal to assign political dialogue to an institution affiliated with the presidency, a refusal that was renewed a few days ago by the leader of the Karama Party (one of the movement's components) Ahmed Al-Tantawi.

On the visions agreed upon by the civil forces to accept Sisi's invitation, Al-Tantawi said, in televised statements, last Thursday, that the dialogue should be under the umbrella of the presidency, as it is the only body with which something can be agreed upon.

Al-Tantawi said that the real dialogue is between two equal parties, and what is required in the next step is, according to him, the preparation of an agenda and the management of the dialogue by a technical secretariat comprising 10 competent experts, specialized and impartial, 5 named by the authority and 5 named by the opposition.

On May 8, the civil movement presented 6 main axes on the political dialogue agenda.

These axes are: political reform and democratic transformation, economic reform and social justice, legislative and institutional reform, human rights and public freedoms, national security and national interests, in addition to deepening citizenship and combating discrimination.

The release of detainees

In the context of the presidential initiative for dialogue, lawyer Tariq Al-Awadi, a member of the presidential pardon committee (reformed by Al-Sisi during a recent presidential iftar party), announced that he examined the files of 1,074 political prisoners this week;

To make decisions about them in preparation for their release.

And yesterday, Sunday, Al-Awadi made it clear, in televised statements, that these cases concern detainees in pretrial detention or those against whom sentences have been issued, indicating the possibility of their release in batches.

Among the most prominent cases expected to be included in the pardon decision, according to Al-Awadi, are those imprisoned in the “Al-Amal” and “Misr Insurance Company employees” cases.

The “Cell of Hope” case dates back to 2019, when the Ministry of Interior carried out a massive campaign of arrests that included 13 people, most notably the former parliamentarian Ziad Al-Alimi, and the leftist Ramy Nabil Shaath, son of the former Palestinian Foreign Minister (he was released after renouncing his Egyptian citizenship), and the prosecution later accused them of Financial cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood, and the quest to overthrow the state under the name of the Hope Plan.

As for the “Misr Insurance Employees” case, it dates back to 2020, when the authorities arrested 13 company employees, against the backdrop of organizing protests at their companies’ headquarters against a list of human resources put forward by the Ministry of the Business Sector that reduces their salaries, before accusing them of “publishing and broadcasting false news.” misuse of a social media site, and joining a terrorist group.

It is noteworthy that the members of the presidential pardon committee confirmed on more than one occasion that the amnesty decisions will not include those accused in violence cases or those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, who were also excluded by media professionals close to the regime from participating in the political dialogue initiative.