MENASource

The Consequences of a Repressive NGO Law

By Nancy Messieh

Egypt’s draft NGO law has undergone several iterations, the latest of which President Mohamed Morsi submitted to the Shura Council. The law has provoked a significant local and international uproar. Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights (together with almost 40 other local organizations), and UN High Commissioner for Human […]

Top News: East Libya Group Declares Autonomy

The leader of a political group in Libya’s oil-rich Cyrenaica province declared it a self-governing region in a speech on Saturday, evidence of growing pressure for a new constitution to adopt a federal structure.

Top News: Egypt Parliament Ruled Illegal, But to Stay On

The Shura Council and the Constituent Assembly were formed unconstitutionally according to a ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) on Sunday. According to the ruling, the Shura Council will be dissolved after a new House of Representatives is formed. The constitution will also remain in effect. 

Top News: United States Troubled by Verdicts in Embassy Attack in Tunisia

The US embassy in Tunisia said it is “deeply troubled” that the twenty people convicted of attacking the embassy last year only received suspended sentences.

Top News: Egypt Islamist Parties Call for SCC’s Dissolution

Six Islamist-leaning political parties on Thursday condemned recent calls by Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) to grant military and police personnel the right to vote in national elections.  GOVERNMENT & OPPOSITION Egypt presidency’s civil society bill ‘hostile to freedom’: NGOs Forty Egyptian NGOs on Tuesday issued withering criticisms of a new draft law regulating NGO […]

Nothing is Inevitable in Politics, nor in Popular Pressure

By Amr Hamzawy

In politics, it is wrong to expect that successful popular campaigns with substantial demands will achieve results immediately. I am putting this in writing, to confirm statements I have already made in Egyptian media about the Tamarod, or ‘rebellion,’ campaign. Tamarod’s main demand is a call for early presidential elections, in response to the collapse […]

Top News: Syria Opposition Says No Peace Talks Until Hezbollah, Iran Halt “Invasion”

Syria’s main opposition group said Thursday it will not take part in proposed US-Russia peace talks while “the militias of Iran and Hezbollah continue their invasion of Syria," the opposition’s acting chief George Sabra told reporters in Istanbul.

Top News: Judges Declare Sit-in Protesting Judiciary Law

Young judges and prosecutors will go to their jobs in the morning then participate in a sit-in at the High Court building in the afternoon until the upper house of parliament ceases its attempts to amend the law, Judges’ Club President Ahmed al-Zind announced at a Tuesday press conference. 

The Pitfalls of Military Voting

The laws governing House of Representatives elections and political participation, submitted to the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) in April, have once again been met with the court’s disapproval. The court ruling puts an already delayed timeline for parliamentary elections further off track, while contradictory statements emerge from the Shura Council on how next to proceed.

Syria: Is a No-Fly Zone on the Table?

By Frederic C. Hof

As US officials have repeatedly acknowledged, Bashar al-Assad’s military “calculation” ultimately must change to enable a negotiated political transition. One option under consideration is a no-fly zone over parts of Syria. As with any exercise weighing the costs and benefit of a specific course of action in Syria, the discussion of a no-fly zone starts […]