The People's Assembly (the Lower House of Egypt's Parliament) approved on Tuesday a two-year extension to Egypt's Emergency Law, as the Government cited “persistent” terrorist threats and ignored demands from opposition and rights groups to repeal the law, which they say is used to stifle dissent. The law was approved by 308 members of the 454-strong house which discussed a request by the Government and President Honsi Mubarak to extend it. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif officially asked the Parliament to extend the law for a further two years as independent and Islamist defied the move. "The Government as it requests an extension of the state of emergency for a duration of two years, commits itself ... not to use the extraordinary measures made available under the emergency law except to confront the threat of terrorism and narcotics," Nazif told the People's Assembly. Before the official request was submitted, the Government said in a statement that it would request "the extension of the state of emergency from the Parliament, citing persistent and grave threats to national security posed by terrorism and narcotics trafficking". "The Government has undertaken to limit the application of the Emergency Law solely for the purpose of countering terrorism and narcotics trafficking," the statement added. Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab said changes meant the law would be used as anti-terrorism legislation in other states and said an anti-terrorism act was in the works. "It is completely untrue the Emergency Law is used against opponents," Shehab told a press conference yesterday. The extension sought will run until May 31, 2012, covering a period that includes parliamentary and presidential elections. The law has been extended routinely for almost three decades. Under the emergency legislation, police can detain terrorism and narcotics suspects indefinitely, and civilian detainees can be referred to military tribunals. Opposition groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood accuse the Government of using the law to crack down on political dissent. The ruling National Democratic Party dominates the two houses of the Parliament. Protesting against the extension, around 100 Islamist and independent MPs submitted a request to reject the law as they held a protest outside the Parliament yesterday. They were joined by political activists, workers and students who all demonstrated against the law. “There is no justification for extending the state of emergency," Essam el-Erian, a senior official at the banned Muslim Brotherhood, the country's biggest opposition group, said. He added that this was an extension of “the state of oppression”. "The Government is incapable of enacting an ordinary law against terrorism,” he added. Hassan Nafaa, the chief co-ordinator of the National Coalition for Change, headed by former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, said during the protest that the Government had defied people's will. "This is a means to oppress the Egyptians' will. Change is coming … no way," Nafaa said. "There are no real changes or amendments to the Emergency Law, which has only been applied to control those with political opinion," Mahmoud Khoudary an ex-judge, stated. "This is not the first time the Government has talked about amendments, which serve to justify the law's extension." Gamal Mubarak, the President's son and a senior official in the ruling National Democratic Party, previously told journalists that the law should be applied with "certain controlling measures" on its use. However, he did not give details. Human Rights Watch and opposition members slammed an extension to the law and said new restrictions on the application were merely cosmetic. "The Government has stated repeatedly that it would limit the emergency law's use to narcotics and terrorism. This isn't a new position," HRW's Heba Morayef in Cairo said. "The Government's track record gives little reason for optimism for a shift in attitude," she said.
