President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s decision not to extend the state of emergency nationwide, for the first time in years, will have far reaching effects on Egypt’s political conditions, observers said.
“The decision is an honest reflection of political and security conditions in Egypt,” MP Mohamed Abdel Aziz, a member of the Committee on Human Rights in the House of Deputies, said.
“It is a very positive step on Egypt’s pursuit to construct its new republic,” he added.
President Sisi said Monday that he had decided not to extend the state of emergency another time, citing improving security and political conditions in Egypt.
This improvement, the president wrote on Facebook, was achieved by the sacrifices of the members of the public as well as policemen and army personnel.
The president’s decision reverberated across political circles locally and regionally.
This is the first time the state of emergency is terminated since April 2017 when a twin bombing in the northern coastal city of Alexandria left 45 people dead and dozens of others injured.
The state of emergency was then renewed every three months by the parliament, the last time being in July this year.
The termination of the state of emergency, according to legal specialists, will put an end to exceptional trials, including before supreme state security courts.
The same termination, they said, would also curb the mandate of the Supreme State Security Prosecution and remove restrictions on free speech and peaceful assemblies.
The decision, some observers said, would also have reaching economic implications by making the local market more attractive to foreign and local investments.
“The decision was a direct result of the successes made by the security establishment in the past years,” Mohamed Embabi, the head of the Giza Chamber of Commerce, said.
“The same successes will automatically contribute to attracting investments and improving the image of the local investment climate,” a local newspaper quoted him as saying.
The state of emergency is a remnant of the rule of the late president Hosni Mubarak who kept imposing it since coming to power in 1981.
Chairman of the Bar Association, Ragae Attia, described the termination of the state of emergency as “historic”.
“The decision is an honest reflection of the new Egypt,” Attia said. “The nation’s lawyers warmly welcome this decision.”
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