Egypt’s nationwide state of emergency is set to be extended for an additional three month, according to Al-Ahram.
The decision was approved by Egypt’s Parliament on Sunday where Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly justified the decision citing security challenges and fighting terrorist movements.
“The extension of the state of emergency is also necessary to ensure that the country moves forward on the road of comprehensive development in a climate of complete stability,” said Madbouly as per Al-Ahram.
The prime minister also said that security and armed forces were able to remove terrorist forces which often aimed at killing both security forces and civilians as part of Operation Sinai 2018.
The later consists of extensive operations in Sinai aimed to counter terrorism and targets any “criminal activity that affects national security and stability” in northern and central Sinai, parts of the Nile Delta and the Western Desert.
“The state of emergency is mainly aimed at helping security and army forces to uproot terrorism,” added Mabdouly.
A presidential decree issued by President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi extended the state of emergency starting 15 of October.
“The emergency law has been highly effective in uncovering a number of terrorist organisations and foiling their operations,” said the head of parliament’s Defence and National Security Committee and former chief of military intelligence Kamal Amer adding that “emergency measures in the coming period will be mainly focused on battling other terrorist movements, revealing their sources of funding and whether they have contacts with foreign elements.”
Egypt has been put under a nationwide state of emergency since April last year, bringing the total amount of time to more than six months.
This fact has been raised in opposition to the decision by parliament’s 23-30 bloc which considers the extension of the referendum without a public refereundum as ” a violation of the spirit of the constitution”.
The emergency law can only be implemented for three months, after which it has to be renewed by the president and should be approved by the parliament. It grants Egyptian authorities the right to intercept all forms of communications including social media. Civilians can also be referred to State Security Emergency Courts where they are unable to appeal verdicts.
The already-in-effect state of emergency was announced last year by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi when two churches were bombed in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday in 2017 killing 47 people.
The state of emergency aims to curb ‘terrorism and its stop their fundings’.
According to article 154 of the 2014 constitution, the state of emergency is to be announced after consulting with the cabinet. Then, the decision should be reviewed by the parliament in no more than seven days after its approval by the cabinet.
The state of emergency was imposed nonstop during the era of former president Hosni Mubarak, from 1981 to 2012, even after he was ousted.
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