On Sunday the Islamist dominated Shura Council voted by a hefty majority, and with its by now trademark speed, to pass — in principle — a new law regulating non-governmental organisations, reports Gamal Essam El-Din. The law was presented as an alternative to Law 84/2002 which mandates the Ministry of Social Insurance to license NGOs. The new law, drafted by the council's Human Development Committee, was rammed through in one hour on 24 March. “The committee decided to take the initiative and submit a new NGO law because the government has so far failed to draft one of its own,” said Abdel-Azim Mahmoud, chairman of the committee and a leading official of Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). Essam Al-Erian, the FJP's parliamentary spokesman in the Shura Council, weighed in on Sunday saying “the new NGO law was drafted by FJP MPs in their capacity as MPs authorised to propose legislation in the Shura Council.” Al-Erian rejected the government's argument that under Article 101 of the constitution Shura members are not empowered to propose laws. “The new constitution gives Shura members full legislative power. We are not here to receive and rubber-stamp laws from the government,” insisted Al-Erian. The FJP's NGO was rushed through the Shura Council after the High Administrative Court's Board of Advisors said on 20 March that the Muslim Brotherhood remained an outlawed group that must be dissolved. The panel of judges' advice forced Brotherhood officials to move quickly on two fronts. First came a surprise announcement that the Muslim Brotherhood had registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs on 19 March. This was confirmed by Minister of Social Affairs Nagwa Khalil who on 21 March said Article 51 of the new constitution allowed the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups to register as NGOs in just 24 hours. “The group submitted a fully-documented request on 19 March to be officially registered as an NGO and it was accepted in accordance with Article 51 of the constitution,” said Khalil. Ahmed Fahmi, chairman of the Shura Council and a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, says “the fact that the FJP's law was approved in principle does not mean that the council is not ready to discuss a government-drafted NGO law.” Omar Al-Sherif, deputy justice minister, told the council that the row which hit Egypt over foreign funding of NGOs following the 25 January Revolution was reason enough to spend time formulating a comprehensive and carefully drafted law. “We want a new legislation to be free of the defects of the 2002 law, to tighten control of foreign funding of NGOs in Egypt and help NGOs in general contribute to the development of the country,” said Al-Sherif. He said the government would present the Shura Council with its own NGO law “within days”. The FJP's NGO law prohibits registered NGOs from obtaining foreign funding. “This includes funds from foreigners or Egyptians living abroad,” said the law's explanatory memorandum. It also forces registered NGOs to gain an official permit before transferring money abroad. According to Mahmoud, the law defines NGOs as entities that are not involved in profitable activities and aim at promoting humanitarian, development and economic interests. It stipulates that a “coordination committee” be set up within the framework of the Ministry of Social Affairs to be responsible for overseeing foreign NGOs. “The word foreign includes NGOs which are subject to international agreements or work in the field of civil society activities in general,” said Mahmoud, adding that “the proposed coordination committee also will be in charge of scrutinising the programmes and funds of foreign NGOs.” The FJP bill allows NGOs registered under the 2002 law a year to comply with the new legislation. Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat, chairman of the Reform and Development Party and a member of the board of the General Federation of NGOs accused the Muslim Brotherhood of using its control of the Shura Council, and its influence in the Ministry of Social Affairs, to secure licence. “It is regrettable that Minister of Social Insurance Nagwa Khalil allowed herself to be manipulated by Brotherhood officials into furnishing the group with an automatic licence,” Al-Sadat told Al-Ahram Weekly. “The whole process of registering the Brotherhood has been deliberately vague. And it seems the FJP's new NGO law has been designed to screen the financial activities of the Muslim Brotherhood from the scrutiny of the Central Auditing Agency. It will be interesting to see if the group escapes any financial review simply because its funding comes from members in Egypt.” A month ago Al-Sadat charged that “the funds of the Muslim Brotherhood International are estimated at $200 billion most of which is deposited in Qatari banks.” During the committee debate representatives of NGOs opened fire on the FJP bill. Sherif Mounir, from the NGO Support Centre, said “the bill adopts an overly negative view of foreign NGOs.” “Obliging these NGOs to give detailed statements about their sources of funding and donations is a very hard job and is really aimed at scaring them away from operating in Egypt.” Shura MPs, be they Islamist or non-Islamist MPs, were keen, however, to play the nationalist card. FJP spokesman Al-Erian accused foreign NGOs of playing a major role in spreading corruption during the Mubarak era. “The Americans gave Egypt $70 billion during the Mubarak era and then wondered why they hate us. My answer is because your money was used to spread corruption.” “We do not have objection to foreign NGOs working in Egypt but they have to know all funding is subject to stringent transparency and control measures.” Nagui Al-Shehabi, a member of the Geel (Generation) Party, insisted that “most foreign NGOs in Egypt are cells spying on Egypt for America and Israel.”
