Egypt’s parliament on Monday expelled one of its few dissenting lawmakers, the scion of a storied political family, having accused him of leaking sensitive information to Western diplomats.

The expulsion of the lawmaker, Anwar Sadat, nephew and namesake of a president assassinated nearly four decades ago, was supported by 468 of Parliament’s 596 members. Eight voted in his favour.

The move had the practical effect of further enfeebling the opposition to the government in parliament.

The charges against Sadat centred on his criticism of a proposed law that domestic and international critics say could make it virtually impossible for international aid groups to operate in Egypt.

Pro-government lawmakers accused Sadat of leaking drafts of the law to foreign embassies, and of faking the signatures of 16 fellow lawmakers on another proposed law that he had drafted. Sadat denied the accusations, saying he had circulated his criticism only in a news release via email and his website

“We saw that Sadat was working against the parliament and against the state,” said Alaa Abed, a lawmaker who voted against Sadat. In an interview, Abed insinuated Sadat was in the pay of foreign powers, then abruptly ended the call.

Anwar Sadat, Egypt’s third president, was killed by army officers in 1981. For many years, his soft-spoken nephew was seen as a relatively gentle opposition voice. But in recent years Sadat has shown more grit, and there has been some speculation of late that he may run in the presidential election planned for next year.

As the expulsion vote proceeded, Sadat exited the parliament, telling journalists, “It’s not the end of the world.” He did not offer further comment, but in an interview with The New York Times last week, he said the draft law that targeted aid groups was rooted in a pervasive belief inside Egypt’s ruling class that foreign money had played a role in fomenting the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

“They believe it’s all a big conspiracy,” he said. “But that’s not logical. The truth was that young people were fed up and tired of a regime that had been in power for 30 years. They were full of anger.”

Some critics saw the move against Sadat as a pretext to neutralise him in the run-up to the 2018 election.

In recent months, the government has gone after prominent lawyers and rights activists with prosecutions that have frozen their bank accounts, rescinded their ability to travel abroad and could ultimately imprison them for lengthy terms.

Sadat is the second person to be expelled from Egypt’s parliament in the past 12 months. Tawfiq Okasha, a television presenter turned politician, was expelled in March 2016 after he had dinner with Israel’s ambassador to Egypt.

In a phone call Monday evening, an aide to Sadat declined to speculate on whether he might run for president, saying it was “too early to consider.

source : gulfnews