Many political analysts argue Egypt's 25 January uprising in 2011 was a revolution against political autocracy while the 30 June uprising of 2013 had religious despotism in its sights. Al-Ahram commentator Mohamed Salmawy says that the public rose against the mixing of business with politics in 2011, and against the mixing of religion with politics in 2013. “In 2011 they decided to free politics from business interests and in 2013 free politics from an Islamist group which had reached power to advance its religious agenda,” said Salmawy. The result, argues Salmawy, is that the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood regime on 30 June 2013 was followed by the drafting of a new constitution which banned religious parties, set out to reform religious discourse, reinforce national unity, combat terrorism and promote social justice. “The constitution passed in January 2014 also prioritised legislation promoting political reform, respect of human rights and the strengthening of civil society organisations.” But more than three years later it is clear that fighting terrorism took priority. “Unfortunately, legislating for religious and political reform took a back seat,” says Salmawy. A study by Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies published in April notes that since it was elected in January 2016 the House of Representatives “began by approving two anti-terror laws to help defend the country against terrorist threats and endorsed two earlier anti-terror laws — Law 94/2015 and Law 8/2015”. When Coptic churches in Cairo and other governorates were attacked in the first half of 2017 parliament moved to approve a presidential decree (Decree 157/2017) imposing a three-month state of emergency and President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi announced the creation of a Supreme Council for Combating Terrorism and Extremism (SCCTE) to lead the fight against extremism. In an interview last month Al-Sisi revealed “a law regulating the council's activities is currently being drafted and its members are being selected.” Salmawy believes the SCCTE will be instrumental in achieving a major goal of the 30 June Revolution, the reform of religious discourse. “I hope the council will begin its work soon and avoid turning into yet another bureaucratic institution,” says Salmawy. “Intellectuals and prominent public figures should join the council alongside Al-Azhar clerics and scholars to help draw up an effective strategy against religious extremism.” Kamal Amer, head of parliament's National Security and Defence Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that legislation regulating the work of the council had not yet reached parliament though he expected MPs “will soon discuss detailed amendments of the criminal procedures law which aim to speed up the trials of those accused of planning terrorist attacks”. “Parliament prioritised anti-terror laws because of the risk terrorism posed to national security. We have seen how neighbouring states slipped into civil war and sectarian strife because they failed to implement anti-terror measures,” says Amer. He hopes that the new council will target the Muslim Brotherhood “given a major objective of the 30 June Revolution and the 2014 constitution was to fight the radical jihadist ideology espoused by the group”. Amer also said many MPs have pushed for tighter control of religious fatwas. Parliament's Religious Affairs Committee last month approved a draft law which restricts the issuing of fatwas to licensed preachers. Omar Hamroush, the committee's secretary-general who drafted the law, told the Weekly the bill promotes the goals of the 30 June Revolution. “Following the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood regime and the closure of radical and Islamist television channels Salafi clerics affiliated with the Nour Party moved to impose their own agenda by issuing fatwas,” said Hamroush. He accuses Salafi clerics of responsibility for the proliferation of bizarre fatwas in recent years. “They have issued fatwas barring Muslims from shaking hands with Copts or exchanging congratulations with them on Christian feasts. These so-called fatwas paved the way for militant jihadists to bomb churches in an attempt to foment sectarian strife.” Osama Al-Abd, head of parliament's Religious Affairs Committee, says parliament moved to strengthen national unity by approving a new church building law in August 2016. “The law achieves one of the main objectives of the 30 June Revolution by addressing Coptic grievances and promoting religious tolerance. Passed on 30 August 2016 it frees the construction and restoration of churches from bureaucratic red tape.” The law builds new bridges of confidence between Christians and Muslims and helps foster national unity in Egypt which is why, says Al-Abd, “terrorists tried their best to undermine it by attacking churches in recent months.” Parliament has been far slower issuing anti-discrimination laws, another demand of the 2013 uprising. Nor has it got to grips with political reform. Under the constitution parliament is required to legislate to allow for the election of local councils, the creation of a national election commission and to facilitate transitional justice. The Local Administration Committee has already revised a government-drafted law on local councils. Head of the committee Ahmed Al-Sigini told the Weekly the 150-article draft seeks to democratise local councils. “The four chapters of the draft law regulate the election of local councils and while the legislation gives a lot of power to provincial governors it also allows elected local councils to supervise how that power is used,” said Al-Sigini. Forming a national electoral commission is proving more problematic. “Although parliament began discussing the law early this year MPs rejected an article which would eliminate judicial supervision of elections within 10 years. We hope MPs and the government can reach a common ground on this critical issue,” says Al-Sigini. But it is issuing a transitional justice law that seems to pose the greatest difficulties. “As long as the Muslim Brotherhood continues to engage in terrorist activities and refuses to reform its religious agenda no law on national reconciliation can be passed,” says head of parliament's Media Committee Osama Heikal. MPs did manage to agree on a law regulating the media and the press as stipulated by articles 211, 212 and 213 of the constitution. The Institutional Regulation of the Press and the Media (Law 92/2016), passed in December 2016, established three regulatory bodies: the Higher Council for Media Regulation, the National Press Organisation and the National Media Organisation. Heikal says the second law regulating national press organisations is expected to be discussed by MPs next month. A new law on NGOs, approved by parliament last November and ratified by the president in May, tightens control on foreign funding of NGOs and has been condemned by human rights activists as undermining the freedoms people took to the streets in 2013 to defend. MP Mohamed Abu Hamed disagrees with such an interpretation: “One of the main objectives of the 30 June Revolution,” he claims, “was to tighten control of foreign money which some had used to fund terrorist activities and implement a liberal agenda which led to chaos and disintegration. This is what the new NGO has achieved even if many like to describe it as draconian.” Abu Hamed, a member of the parliamentary delegation which visited Washington last week, told the Weekly he was surprised many US Congress members who criticised the law appeared not to have read it. “We responded to their attacks, informing them the new NGO law achieved two objectives. It helps civil society organisations perform their activities without cumbersome bureaucratic obstacles and tightens control over foreign money being used for purposes detrimental to national security.”
