Coalition of Egyptian Parties welcome president Sisi initiative for national dialogue, suggest agenda

CAIRO – 11 May 2022: Heads of Egyptian political parties that are members of The Coalition of Egyptian Parties, announced, Wednesday their ‘unanimous support’ for President Abdel Fattah al Sisi invitation and call on parties to start a national political dialogue without excluding anyone to lay down the road map for the transit of Egypt during the coming period.

Heads of the coalition parties appreciated President Sisi invitation and sent him messages of thanks.

The parties also praised The National Youth Conference choice for organizing and managing the dialogue neutrally.

The political parties’ heads called on all sides invited to the National Dialogue to prioritize the country’s public interest over any other interests.

The parties, that met on Wednesday said in its statement that after long discussions, the Coalition thinks that the national dialogue agenda should include: Economic reform and human development, confronting external threats to the Egyptian national security, developing solutions to the problem of unemployment and debt, education and health, confronting the problem of population growth, conducting a review of a number of political laws, including the personal status law.

On Tuesday, The National Training Academy (NTA) has launched the initiative of a national dialogue among “all segments of society” upon an invitation by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

NTA said it would impartially manage the national dialogue, provided that its role is to coordinate the activities of the initiative between the different groups participating in the dialogue without interference.

It added it would expand the base of participation in the dialogue by inviting all representatives of the Egyptian society from all categories and institutions.

Registration will be opened on the website of the National Youth Conference for those who wish to participate in the national dialogue.

A joint impartial committee will be formed and will be tasked with compiling the outcomes of the national dialogue in a unified preliminary document that will be submitted to the Egyptian president.

Dozens of institutions have already announced their participation in the national dialogue, including the Syndicate of Journalists, the Coordination of Party Youth, the National Council for Women, the labor union, the Presidential Pardon Committee, and several political parties, including the Salafi party of al-Nour.

The national dialogue comes as part of Sisi's national human rights strategy, launched in September with vows to open the public space to be more and more inclusive. As such, hundreds of inamtes, including dozens of human rights activists, have recently been released by the Presidential Pardon Committee.