Egypt threatens those who criticise parliament

Egyptian Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal warned of tough punishments for those who criticise the national legislative body on Monday morning, according to Ahram Online.

In a statement prior to the House of Representative’s third session, Abdel Aal particularly highlighted that MPs and media bodies who tried to “defame the image of parliament” would be subject to disciplinary action.

“To both I say the hour of judgment has come and it will be very soon – in the coming few weeks,” Abdel Aal declared.

“Parliament will be very keen to discipline offenders in a very forceful way and will aim to inflict penalties on all those who want to disparage parliament or violate its rules.”

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Some MPs known as the “25-30” bloc have been critical of Abdel Aal, accusing him of violating the Egyptian constitution and parliament’s internal bylaws, resulting in hasty law-making without due approval. The house speaker has responded by referring vocal parliamentarians to the ethics committee and expressed his intolerance of those who criticise state policies.

Abdel Aal argued that “freedom should not mean chaos or be viewed as an absolute right, which some may like to exercise at the expense of the state’s interest and the freedom of others.”

Read: Egypt: Prison term for 3 convicted of ‘violent incidents’ in 2013

Egypt has seen a dramatic suppression of freedom in the country and an increase in regulatory legislation since the ousting of democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi; action justified by the government as necessary for “national security”.

The Egyptian government has also launched a crackdown on anyone suspected of opposing President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi or his policies and has implemented laws that affect vocal media organisations, journalists and NGOs.