Egypt’s parliament expels one of the last dissenting voices

Egypt’s parliament has expelled Mohammed Anwar Sadat, the nephew of the late President Anwar Sadat, on the charge of forging signatures on a draft bill and leaking drafts of the law to foreign embassies.

Sadat has denied the accusations and said that the law had already been published online, yet 468 of the 595 MPs in the Egyptian parliament voted to expel him.

Alaa Abed, one of the lawmakers who voted against Sadat, told the New York Times that Sadat was being paid by foreign powers: “We saw that Sadat was working against the parliament and against the state.”

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MPs approved the draft law in November but human rights activists oppose it on the grounds that it will make it impossible for international aid groups to operate in Egypt. The legislation stipulated that the authorities would control their work and their funding.

Al-Sisi’s supporters already dominate Egypt’s parliament and the move to oust Sadat, one of the last critical voices, will consolidate this support and weaken opposition to the president. It was believed that Sadat was considering running for president in the elections next year.