Egypt national dialogue resumes Saturday with economic, social tracks key focus

Ahram Online , Friday 29 Jul 2022

The board of trustees of Egypt's National Political Dialogue (NPD) will convene for the third time on Saturday to tackle the economic and social tracks following agreement on the political track during the previous rounds of talks.

Diaa Rashwan
Diaa Rashwan chairs the first session of the National Dialogue s Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday 5 July 2022. Courtesy Facebook page of the National Dialogue

 

The announcement was made on Thursday evening by Diaa Rashwan, chairman of the Press Syndicate and coordinator of the NPD, during his TV programme New Egypt on ETC channel.

In two rounds of talks, the 19-member board of trustees, which comprises political, partisan, and syndicate figures from different backgrounds, agreed to concentrate debates on the political, economic and social areas, with subcommittees for each area.

In the first meeting on 5 July, the board agreed on bylaws as well as the dialogue's 25-article code of conduct and ethics.

During the second meeting on 19 July, the board agreed on the formation of three sub-committees under the political track – local councils committee, human rights and public liberties committee, and the party and electoral system and parliamentary institutions committee. 

Saturday's meeting will focus on the formation of sub-committees under the economic and social tracks, Rashwan said.

Each sub-committee, he added, will later announce the agenda of its respective meetings, inviting all those with suggestions to participate.

The dialogue and debates will be held between the committee members, not the board of trustees, he explained.

He stressed that participation in the dialogue's different committees, which will be open for media coverage, is open to everyone except for those who have been involved in violence or those who reject the country's constitution.

"We admit that [the state] has not completed all that it seeks for in the political, economic and social areas, but experiments are concluded within a few months or even years," he noted.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for the national dialogue and reactivated the Presidential Pardon Committee on 26 April during the annual Egyptian Family Iftar banquet.

The president has urged all political forces to participate, stressing, however, that the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhood group would not be invited.

Rashwan added the Egyptian president promised to attend the final stages of the dialogue since he seeks to listen to all opinions and also has the authority to submit drafts to the legislative bodies as per the constitution.

All have agreed that debates will not include voting on ideas or proposals since voting would exclude one or another opinion, he stressed, adding that in the end all proposals will be considered and submitted to the president.

In the end, the dialogue will lead to some decisions - some consensed upon and others disageed on, he stressed.

Rashwan also revealed that members of what he described as "the opposition abroad" want to return home and take part in the country's political and social life.

Rashwan said forming committees for debates on political issues demonstrates that the national dialogue is "more serious" than what those who distort the process in order to cast doubt on the initiative. 

No red lines have been set for the dialogue, he reaffirmed, adding that opposition figures are already participating in the dialogue.

Since the start of the dialogue, several presidential pardons led to the release of a number of prisoners and the prosecution also ordered the release of tens of pretrial detainees.

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