Board of Trustees of Egypt's National Dialogue selects 44 rapporteurs for subcommittees

CAIRO – 10 September 2022: During its 6th session on Saturday, the National Dialogue Board of Trustees agreed on forming five committees for political, economic, and societal aspects of the dialogue.

The five committees are one for political parties, and the second for trade unions and civil society, the third for the Exercise of Political Rights and parliamentary representation, the fourth for municipalities, and the fifth committee for human rights and public freedoms.

Two more committees were announced for youth and tourism. The Board of Trustees also agreed to choose Prof. Hossam Badrawi as a consultant for the national dialogue for Egypt’s Vision 2030.

For the political affairs, the Board of Trustees selected 12 rapporteurs, while Dr. Ali El-Din Hilal was chosen to be the general rapporteur and Dr. Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed as an assistant rapporteur.

Other 18 rapporteurs were chosen for the economic committees. Dr. Ahmed Mahmoud Galal was selected to be General Rapporteur, and Dr. Abdel-Fattah Al-Jabali his assistant.

As for the social committees, 14 candidates were selected and Eng. Khaled Abdelaziz was appointed as a general rapporteur, and Dr. Hania El Shalkami as his assistant.

The selection process, held at the National Training Academy, was presided by the National Dialogue’s General Coordinator Diaa Rashwan.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called for the dialogue earlier this year to reach common ground on the country’s political priorities.

The dialogue’s board earlier agreed on bylaws regulating the work of the Board of Trustees, which will be published on the dialogue’s website soon.

In a press conference following the first board meeting in July, General Coordinator and Head of the Journalists’ Syndicate Diaa Rashwan affirmed that those who practiced or incited violence, on top of which is the Muslim Brotherhood group, will not be allowed to participate in the dialogue, according to the board’s decision.

He added that those who do not recognize the legitimacy of the 2014 constitution also will be exempted from the dialogue.

During the first board meeting, Rashwan said those who killed innocent Egyptians or incited murders cannot be part of the dialogue because they do not acknowledge the constitution.

Meanwhile, all segments of the society, all political parties and unions are represented in the dialogue, he noted.

Rashwan underscored that the dialogue must culminate in legislative or executive proposals that can be presented to Sisi so people see actual procedures resulting from the initiative.

Participants highlighted that the dialogue focuses on the output, and that it is not a place for declaring personal positions, but rather on discussions that lead to serious proposals.

A number of participants have affirmed that those who involve religion into politics should be excluded from the dialogue as the state is heading toward being a modern and civil state.