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Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Focus Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Three more years of emergency
By Gamal Essam El-DinWith opposition from only a small minority of MPs, the People's Assembly (PA) has approved a presidential decree to prolong the state of emergency for three more years. The emergency law, which has been in force since the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981, gives security forces sweeping powers to detain suspects without trial for long periods.
Continuation of the law had previously been reviewed on a year-by-year basis, but in April 1994 it was extended for a three-year period at the government's request. It was extended again in 1997.
The submission of the bill to the PA on Saturday took both National Democratic Party (NDP) and opposition MPs by surprise; this decision had not been expected before May. Another reason for the surprise was that PA Speaker Fathi Sorour and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Kamal El-Shazli had told reporters that Saturday's sitting would be devoted to slamming Israel's aggression against Lebanon. El-Shazli affirmed that "anti-Israeli sentiments in the Assembly were running very high" and as many as 300 deputies had submitted requests to speak in condemnation of the Israeli aggression.
But, to the surprise of deputies, Sorour did not say a word about the Lebanon debate. Instead, he announced that Prime Minister Atef Ebeid had informed him of a presidential decree to extend the state of emergency for three years, beginning on 1 June 2000 and ending on 31 May 2003. Consequently, Sorour added, the PA's general committee, including Sorour and the chairmen of its 18 committees, should meet in the evening to discuss the decree. The committee's meeting, which lasted for less than 15 minutes, ended with a unanimous approval of the bill. Later in the evening, the PA reconvened in a plenary session and approved the law by an overwhelming majority -- only seven deputies objected.
In the morning sitting, Ebeid addressed the PA to explain the government's reasons for the extension. The government's report said that the state of emergency was being maintained at the request of Interior Minister Habib El-Adli. A memorandum by El-Adli argued that prolonging the emergency was "an indispensable deterrent measure to protect the nation's progress toward new horizons and guard it against the criminal forces who are still intent on seizing all possible opportunities to incite unrest and hit national interests". El-Adli's memorandum had been approved by a cabinet meeting on 10 February.
Explaining the reasons for the extension to parliament, Ebeid said that in the past 10 years, several countries, including Italy, France, Germany and Britain, had enacted new laws and taken harsh measures to ward off terrorism. "Terrorism does not discriminate between the young and old or between men and women. Its main objective is to slow down progress. Please help us, with your approval of this bill, to maintain the initiative in confronting terrorism. Terrorism knows no difference between the majority and the opposition. We vow that this law will by no means be detrimental to freedom of expression," said Ebeid.
At a three-hour session in the evening, Ebeid, along with 26 cabinet ministers, were present to push the bill forward. Members of the ruling NDP immediately expressed support. Ragab Hilal Hemeida, a representative of the opposition Liberal Party, voted in favour of the bill, saying that Egypt should "take measures against all kinds of terrorism".
Members of the liberal Wafd Party opposed the bill. Fouad Badrawi, speaking for the party, said the emergency law should be invoked "in exceptional cases only. But this law has been in force for 18 years on the grounds that it is aimed at protecting the country against terrorism and maintaining stability. This is very undemocratic."
He argued that the law denies voters the freedom to choose candidates in general elections and prevents political parties, with the exception of the NDP, from organising public rallies.
Joining forces with Badrawi, Ali Fath-El-Bab, the sole representative of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party, argued that Ebeid's statement did not include statistics which might be cited to justify the extension. He also contended that the term "terrorism" was being used loosely. "We have to work together to come up with a new definition specifying the types of terrorism that are to be confronted," he said.
Rejecting the arguments of Badrawi and Fath-El-Bab, Minister El-Shazli affirmed that the emergency law was not the state's tool of tightening control on power. "The state is intent on upholding public freedoms, the supremacy of law and social justice. But the emergency law is necessary for security forces to foil criminal attempts against the stability of this nation," El-Shazli said.
