Egypt’s National Dialogue to discuss economic topics in Tuesday sessions

CAIRO – 22 May 2023: The Egyptian National Dialogue will hold its economic sessions on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, to shed light on the reasons for the slow industry's contribution to the economy and analyze the investment environment in Egypt.

The two topics will be held in two sessions each; the first session of each topic will start at 11:00 a.m., while the second two sessions will convene at 3:00 p.m. parallelly, according to the National Dialogue’s Tuesday agenda.

The Industry Committee of the National Dialogue will discuss the reasons for the lack of the industry’s contribution to the Egyptian economy. Meanwhile, the Committee of Private Investment will analyze the reality, opportunities and challenges in the investment environment.

‘National Identity’

The second week of the National Dialogue’s discussion started with the social axis under the title "National Identity" on May 21, in the presence of several of intellectuals, politicians, representatives of political parties and members of Parliament. The session witnessed lengthy discussions on strengthening national identity and preserving the Arabic language.

The participants agreed on a number of points, which are deepening the cultural role and national identity, in addition to the file of cultural industries, conditions for the development of cultural institutions and cultural policies, and the last point will be related to issues of creativity and freedom of creativity.

They proposed the establishment of the National Authority for the Preservation of the Egyptian Identity, so that it would be independent and work on the legislative axis, and it would have the right to present draft laws that would preserve the Egyptian heritage and history, whether ancient or modern.

Controls must be put in place to preserve national identity through audiovisual and electronic media, as well as proposals for educational content in all stages of education to ensure deepening identity among children and deepening the principle of citizenship in all its concepts under the rules and controls guaranteed by the 2014 constitution.

Talks on municipal councils

The National Dialogue tackled on Sunday the political parties’ issues and the law regulating municipal councils.

Also, on May 21, the political committee of the National Dialogue held two sessions on enhancing and supporting the activities of parties, as well as means to eliminate obstacles against their progress. They also discussed the formation and jurisdictions of a political committee.

Two sessions are dedicated to political life in Egypt. However, the sessions will be repeated if they are not enough to cover all the points,"said Diaa Rashwan, coordinator of the National Dialogue.

The two National Dialogue sessions dedicated to local councils on Sunday are determining the following:

1- The appropriate electoral system in the light of Article 180 of the Constitution.

2- Conditions and procedures for candidacy for membership of local councils.

3- The maximum and minimum numbers of members of local councils in each governorate, markaz (an administrative division), the city, the neighborhood, and the village according to the number of the population, whenever possible.

4- Tools of local councils in holding heads of local units accountable (questioning - request for briefing - interrogation).

5- Conditions for the dissolution of local councils by the executive authority.

6- Amending the current law after arriving at decisions on the mentioned issues. Articles in question are about 23.

7- Not interfering in the jurisdiction of local councils or local financing and leaving them as is in the current law. They will be discussed in the comprehensive law, however.

‘Combating discrimination’

On May 14, 2023, the Human Rights and Public Freedoms Committee of the National Dialogue held the second session on eliminating all forms of discrimination.

Participants stressed that all Egyptians are equal before the law and that the state is committed to all relevant agreements that it has signed.

The session shed light on citizens' right to treatment, housing, and not being subjected to physical or psychological abuse. The participants appreciated the state's role in establishing the Human Rights Commission, combating discrimination, and preserving public freedoms.

The participants demanded strengthening human rights policies, drafting and revising some legislations, finding solutions to loopholes in some of them, and enforcing constitutional entitlements to combat discrimination.

They also demanded the enactment of a draft law to establish a commission to prevent discrimination amongst citizens in all aspects of life in Egypt, including sustainable development goals.

‘Legal body to supervise minors’ money’

On 18 May 2023, the societal axis of the National Dialogue, with the presence of various currents and political prominent figures, discussed several of issues including guardianship over minors' money and property.

During the session, several suggestions were heard including amending laws and establishing legal body affiliated with the cabinet to supervise minors' money.

‘Debate on electoral system’

The Parliament electoral system has sparked a public debate among MPs and political figures during the National Dialogue sessions on May 15 with proposals to shift away from the current closed list system in the 2025 elections.

Opposition representatives called for adopting the proportional list dialogue instead of the closed list system, which has been in effect in Egypt over the past decade.

The proportional list system allows a particular political party to win a number of seats that is proportional to the percent of votes it got during the elections. On the other hand, in the closed list system, the political parties that get the majority of votes in a constituency win all the seats.