Parliament’s legislative committee approves Red Sea islands

CAIRO - 13 June 2017: The Legislative Committee of the House of Representatives has approved the controversial deal that handed over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.

A total of 35 parliamentarians voted in favor of the deal while eight abstained from voting. The 43-member committee, which was chaired by Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal, was suspended for a few minutes due to a debate among the committee members.

According to the Parliament’s regulations, any deal signed between Egypt and another foreign country shall be discussed by the legislative committee. If the deal is approved by the committee, Parliament will discuss and vote on it in general session.

In the first inquiry session, the government submitted a

report

to the committee clarifying why the government approved the controversial deal. The session was attended by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

During the second session, the committee discussed the deal with a representative from the Armed Forces.

The deal regarding the two islands, which are located at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, was signed by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdelaziz in April 2016. It was opposed by many and even spurred lawyers to file a lawsuit against the government before the Administrative Court to annul the deal.

Then, two different court rulings were issued regarding the agreement. The first, issued by the Supreme Administrative Court in June 2016, nullified the agreement, while the second verdict, issued in April by the Summary Proceedings Court, ruled for its validity.

To settle the judicial dispute, the deal was referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court, which is the last stop to consider it.