Malaysia extends invitation to arrested speaker of dissolved Egyptian parliament

Malaysia’s ruling party UMNO extended an invitation to the speaker of Egypt’s dissolved parliament, Saad El-Katatni, to attend the annual party conference in Kuala Lumpur, a symbolic recognition of the dissolved parliament’s legitimacy.

El-Katatni was arrested following the coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected government on 3 July.

Official delegations from 42 countries attended the Malaysian conference, which was held under the auspices of the Malaysian prime minister.

Head of the external relations committee in the parliament Mostafa Fahmi and another member of the committee, Abdul-Mawjoud Dardeeri, attended the conference on behalf of Al-Katatni, who remains in prison.

In place of Al-Katatni, Fahmi delivered a speech to the conference attendees, saluting the epic persistence of the Egyptian people “in the face of the coup’s suppression”.

In his speech, Fahmi affirmed that the only question that needs to be posed now is: “What is coming after the collapse of the coup?”