The National Youth Conference, headed by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in early November recommended that a number of political draft laws be submitted to parliament as soon as possible. The conference said these laws should be part of a larger political reform agenda aimed at democratising the country and securing the necessary consensus as the country braces itself for more painful economic measures following the floating of the Egyptian pound. But one month later, MPs and politicians say the government has not taken any tangible steps towards implementing the conference's legislative agenda. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Magdi Al-Agati defended the government, announcing in parliament on Sunday that most political laws recommended by the Red Sea conference – regulating the media, local councils, street protests and general elections – were delayed simply because they are still being revised by the State Council. "We know that both the constitution and the Red Sea conference state that these laws are necessary to create a vibrant political life," said Al-Agati, "but none can be submitted to parliament without first being revised by the State Council". Al-Agati, however, indicated that two media laws were already submitted to parliament after the State Council finalised them. "These laws aim at regulating all media outlets and creating the regulatory bodies which will be in charge of overseeing the performance of the media," said Al-Agati. Al-Agati's address caused a quick backlash in parliament. Mostafa Bakri, an independent MP and a high-profile journalist, accused the government of ignoring the Red Sea conference's political agenda. "While President Al-Sisi gave this conference a lot of support as a new window for political dialogue with young people, we see that the government is not doing enough to translate this support into action," said Bakri. Bakri cited the fact that although the State Council finalised revising the media laws one month ago, the government has not yet decided on referring these laws to parliament. Independent MP Anwar Al-Sadat agreed that the government of Prime Minister Sherif Ismail was moving at a snail's pace towards implementing the Red Sea conference's political agenda. Al-Sadat told Al-Ahram Weekly that while the conference recommended that amendments to the protest law be sent to parliament as soon as possible so that many young protesters can be released, "we see that the government has not taken any step in this direction. What is worse is that when MPs themselves propose amending these laws, we see the government chooses to stand in their way," Al-Sadat said. Al-Agati revealed that two laws on the media were referred to parliament, one to create three media regulatory bodies and the other seeking to supervise the media as a whole, including the press, radio and television and electronic news websites. "This comes upon the recommendation of the State Council which advised that the creation of regulatory bodies comes ahead of discussing and passing a unified media law," said Al-Agati. Bakri said articles 211, 212 and 213 stipulate the creation of three bodies – the Higher Council for Media Regulation, the National Press Organisation and the National Media Organisation. "While the second and third bodies will be in charge of regulating a certain media sector, the first will be mandated with overseeing the performance of all media outlets in general," Bakri said. Al-Agati also indicated that another key political draft law was also referred to parliament this week "which regulates the performance of the National Election Commission (NEC) which will be in charge of supervising all kinds of general polls and referendums". The draft law was discussed in parliament's legislative and constitutional affairs committee on Tuesday. Chairman of the committee Bahaeddin Abu Shoqqa said it aims to meet the conditions stipulated by Articles 208, 209 and 210 of the 2014 Constitution. "These articles state that all public elections be held under complete judicial supervision," said Abu Shoqqa, adding that "Article 34 of the draft law adopts the principle 'a judge for every polling box."' But Abu Shoqqa said MPs believed that the principle be implemented over 10 years. "We refused that a time limit be imposed on this article and that full judicial supervision means that judges be completely responsible for monitoring all the stages of polls, ranging from receiving candidacy requests to announcing the final results," said Abu Shoqqa. In another direction, Al-Agati said a third key political law on local councils was also referred to parliament's local administration committee for debate. Ahmed Al-Sigini, head of the committee, said four draft laws on local councils are being debated by the committee. "While the first was submitted by the government, two are drafted by two political parties – the liberal Al-Wafd and the leftist Al-Tagammu – and one by independent MP Mohamed Atiya Al-Fayoumi," Al-Sigini said. Al-Sigini indicated that the four draft laws cover all aspects of local councils, ranging from the selection of provincial governors to the staging of municipal elections. "We will first hold two sessions on the four draft laws next week, on 7 and 14 December. The discussion will be akin to a national dialogue on how to reform local councils," said Al-Sigini. Al-Fayoumi told Al-Ahram Weekly that the government-drafted law focuses on reforming municipalities in terms of granting them greater autonomous powers that can abolish corruption, improve local services and generate revenues. "My draft law proposes that provincial governors come by election rather than by selection," said Al-Fayoumi, adding that "it also aims to democratise local councils and help citizens have a say in these councils whose performance directly affects their daily lives". Al-Agati indicated that parliament's approval of the new law will be a green light for the government to go ahead with the long-awaited local city council elections. Al-Agati indicated that while there was progress on laws dealing with municipalities, the media and general elections, there is a delay in the amendments of the controversial 2013 Protest Law. Al-Agati explained that the fact that two appeals filed against the law are being deliberated before the Supreme Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation are a major reason why the amendments to the law were delayed. Head of parliament's Human Rights Committee Ayman Abed told the Weekly that the committee is coordinating with the semi-official National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) to discuss how the Protest Law can be amended. "We know that revamping the Protest Law was on top of the recommendations of the Red Sea Youth Conference, and so we will see how we can reach a draft that can eliminate some of the harsher penalties which form part of the current law," said Abed.
