Egyptian authorities launched a countrywide political forum on Wednesday to stir discussion about the country’s future. The event’s chair, however, said that certain subjects would be off-limits.
The forum was established in April 2022 by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with the goal of producing ideas for political, economic, and social improvements.
It is one of many actions adopted in response to criticism of Egypt’s human rights record. A presidential amnesty panel is also evaluating hundreds of applications to free individuals imprisoned under Sisi’s leadership, as well as a five-year human rights program.
Sisi asked participants in a recorded message played at the opening session of the discussion to “do an effort to make the national dialogue experience a success,” adding that he had closely supervised preparations and that “differences in opinion do not damage the cause of a nation.”
According to Diaa Rashwan, the dialogue’s chair, the media will be welcomed to all sessions, but the constitution, foreign policy, and “strategic national security” would be off limits.
Some have argued that the dialogue isn’t a sign of genuine change and that recent human rights steps are merely cosmetic, citing ongoing detentions and arrests of dissidents.
According to Wesam Ata, a researcher at the Egyptian rights group Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), the discussion “had nothing to do with actual security practices on the ground.” To put it another way, “Anyone who does anything that security decides they should be arrested for will be arrested.”
Speaking on behalf of the debate’s coalition of secular and socialist opposition groups, Civil Democratic Movement spokesman Khaled Dawoud said the continuous arrests raised “serious doubts” on the government’s commitment to political transformation.
The Ministry of the Interior did not respond to requests for comment.
Tens of thousands of individuals, including liberal activists and Islamists, have been imprisoned since Sisi led the removal of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi in 2013. According to Sisi and his supporters, the crackdown was vital to restore order in the country.
