MP sent to disciplinary board over Tiran, Sanafir debates

CAIRO - 14 June 2017: Parliamentarian Ahmed Tantawi was referred to the disciplinary board for “breaking the Parliament’s traditions,” speaker of the Parliament Ali Abdel Aal said Tuesday.

During the third day of sessions discussing the controversial Tiran and Sanafir islands deal inside the Legislative Committee of the Parliament, several debates were sparked between members that escalated to verbal quarrels and fights, especially between the 25–30 bloc and the Egypt Support Coalition.

The debate started shortly after Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Omar Marwan’s statements before the Committee, in which he said the Gaza Strip was originally part of Egyptian territory and asked geographic expert Sayed Al-Husseny to explain more about it using Atlas maps.

“He talked more than four times, and didn’t add anything new to the sessions,” parliamentarians said, refusing to listen to Husseny’s explanation regarding Gaza.

Husseny, however, started talking addressing parliamentarian Khaled Youssef, who is affiliated with the 25–30 bloc, saying he is working as a director and this is a “case of experts.”

Shortly thereafter, parliamentarian Ahmed Tantawi went to the platform and broke Husseny’s microphone.



After a three-day discussion inside Parliament’s Legislative Committee regarding the maritime boundaries deal with Saudi Arabia, it was approved with majority of 35 votes on Tuesday.

Several debates took place during the past three days, starting June 11, as Youssef was warmed by Abdel Aal that he would be expelled from the sessions more than once.

Two different judicial decrees have been issued regarding Tiran and Sanafir islands. “Saying that the two islands are Egyptian is not a matter of question,” the Supreme Administrative Court stated in its ruling on January 16.

Then, in April, the Court of Urgent Matters accepted the case filed against the ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court and ruled the islands agreement is valid.

A presidential decree was revealed during the Parliamentary sessions that was signed by former President Hosni Mubarak in 1990 regarding the maritime boundaries with Saudi Arabia, saying that Tiran and Sanafir are not part of Egyptian territory.

The Tiran and Sanafir agreement was signed by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and his Saudi counterpart King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on April 8, 2016, during a visit to Cairo that lasted for five days.