MENASource

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 […]

Top News: Sudan, Egypt May Call on Arab League Over Nile Dam

Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt, Kamal Hassan, stated on Tuesday that Egypt and Sudan may call for intervention by the Arab League in response to the diversion of the Blue Nile on Tuesday at the construction site of a new Ethiopian dam project. If the dam is found to threaten Egypt and Sudan’s share of the […]

Lessons Not Learned in Egypt

By Faysal Itani

As Egypt struggles to avoid economic collapse amid political instability and widespread unrest, it presents a critical case study of the lessons learned and ignored from the Arab uprisings. Faced with shrinking foreign reserves, a widening budget deficit, and low growth, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government appears to be wrestling with the urgency and risks of […]

Top News: EU Failure Will Allow UK, France to Arm Syrian Rebels

Britain and France are free to supply weapons to Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad from August, after attempts to renew an EU arms embargo on Syria failed on Monday.