Egypt’s political dialogue called by Sisi will be true test for opposition: Hamdeen Sabahi

CAIRO – 26 May 2022: Egyptian politician Hamdeen Sabahi said on Thursday that the national dialogue called by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will be managed by the authority, including the loyal parties, alongside the opposition. 

The national dialogue will be a true test for the opposition,” Sabahi, the founder of Al-Karama Party and the Popular Movement and a former presidential candidate, said in an interview with Head of the Journalists Syndicate Diaa Rashwan on ETC TV.

The opposition parties participating in the dialogue have to propose the solutions and the policies required to resolve the problems facing the nation rather than only spotting these problems, he explained. 

Sabahi said the Civil Democratic Movement, which he is part of, has responded positively to President Sisi’s call for a national dialogue between all political parties without exception or discrimination. 

He added that the movement has not imposed conditions regarding the dialogue. 

“The dialogue will not succeed with imposing conditions but with ensuring seriousness,” Sabahi said. “I will not take part in the dialogue by imposing conditions or with someone imposing conditions on us,” he added. 

Sabahi also called for the quick release of prisoners of conscience, who did not incite to violence, stressing that delaying their release is in no one's interest. 

In April, President Sisi directed the National Youth Conference, in coordination with all political parties, to conduct a national political dialogue on the priorities of national actions during the current stage. 

A joint impartial committee is set to be formed and 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 willingness to participate in the national dialogue, including the Syndicate of Journalists, the National Council for Women, the Presidential Pardon Committee, and several political parties, including the April 6 Youth Movement. 

The national dialogue comes as part of the National Strategy for Human Rights, launched by President Sisi in September. 

Over the past weeks, hundreds of inmates, including dozens of human rights activists, have recently been released by the Presidential Pardon Committee, which the president has revived in April.