Sisi Promises Youth to Amend Protest Law

By: Yasmeen Shaheen and Nouran Allam
@Yasmeenshaheenn @Nouranmallam

Egypt’s first ever National Youth Conference concluded in Sharm el Sheikh last week following the participation of 3,000 young people from different political and social backgrounds.

The conference comes in tandem with an initiative first announced by Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi last January, declaring 2016 “the year of the youth.”

The President assigned various state institutions to hold dialogue forums with young people under the conference’s slogan “Innovate Advance”.

It included 23 public sessions and workshops on economic, social, cultural, artistic and sporting issues, as well as discussions on entrepreneurship and identifying talent.

Professor and director of the Kamal Adham Centre for Television and Digital Journalism, Hussein Amin said this conference was one of the most important to
be held in Egypt.

“This is the first of its kind that includes the youth and their points of views in many aspects such as politics, economics, media, education and environment,” Amin said.

He also added that the conference signals a new step towards the greater political participation of the country’s youth.

One of the most important outcomes of the conference was the formation of a national committee under the auspices of the presidency to review cases of pre-trial detention of youths charged with offences against the state, sparking controversy on social media through the hashtag #الشباب_فين

El-Sisi also asked the government to amend the current Protest Law to take into consideration suggestions submitted by the youth during the conference.

Among the parties participating in the conference were the Free Egyptians Party, the Wafd Party, the Conference Party, the Conservative Party, and the Tagammu Party.

Former spokesman of ‘AlDostour’ party, Khaled Dawoud said that the Party decided to boycott the conference, alongside ‘Tayar Al Sha3by,’ ‘Misr Al Qawia, Al Karama’ and the Popular Alliance Party.

“We are convinced that we were present in similar situations and we did not see any changes, and whenever the president attends these conferences the results and the details are predetermined,” said Dawoud.

Dawoud added that if the President wants to have a “real” conversation with the Egyptian youth, he should have first released the detained youth.

Former spokesman of ‘Al Masreyeen Al Ahrar’ Party Shehab Wagih told The Caravan, “every party has the right to boycott the conference.”

“Transferring this to the executive is the dividing line between the success or failure of this conference – the conference is a great step in including them in the decision making process,” President of the Congressional Party Omar Semeda said.

Additional reporting by Yasmine Bassily