Who is targeted by the Sisi decision to ban travel of senior officials without his permission?

Abdul Karim Salim - Cairo

The decision of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to restrict the travel of senior officials, the debate between activists and politicians, as some considered the restriction of the Prime Minister and Sheikh Al-Azhar and contrary to the Constitution and expressed concern Sisi, while others supported him as the constitutional powers of the President and contribute to control government performance and reduce expenses under the deficit The state budget.

Al-Sisi issued a decree banning the travel of senior officials from the ministers, their deputies and heads of official bodies and bodies to work abroad without prior permission.

Reduction of powers
The Republican decree defines officials who are not allowed to travel abroad on official or work related to the job except by a decision of the President of the Republic, either from the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Ministers of Justice, Defense, the Interior and Foreign Affairs, the heads of the independent bodies and the supervisory and security bodies.

The decision applies to anyone who holds a position or is appointed to the post of prime minister or deputy prime minister. The resolution also stipulates that the rest of the ministers, other than those mentioned above, must obtain permission from the prime minister.

Observers in this decision saw a reduction of the powers of the Prime Minister, as the 2014 Constitution provides for the sharing of power between the Presidents and Ministers, as in the 2012 Constitution, which was suspended after the coup in 2013.

This decision necessitated a comparison with an example of the conflict between the centers of power in the early seventies of the last century, following the accession of the late President Anwar Sadat, who issued a similar decree regulating the travel of senior officials in the state and the government sector, where Law No. 140 of 1973 to be authorized Travel to senior officials via the Prime Minister.

Constitutional violation
The head of the Democratic Front Party, Majdi Hamdan, considers this decision to be more "suspicious," considering that it is contrary to the provisions of Article 62 of the 2014 Constitution, which gives freedom of movement to any citizen.

Hamdan said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net that the decision also contradicts the recommendations of the High Commission of the Supreme Administrative Court issued on 4 April 2018, which set nine parties to prevent travel without permission, and most of those nine mentioned in the last decision except the heads of courts, Hamdan promised "a clear violation" of the Constitution and the law.

The Egyptian opposition doubts the timing of the decision, especially in light of what he described as "the tense global atmosphere towards the Egyptian administration," ruling out that the goal of the decision is Sheikh Al-Azhar specifically, "to prevent the door to many interpretations, the system is indispensable now."

Treachery and anxiety
For his part, the director of the International Institute for Political Science and Strategy in Istanbul Mamdouh Al-Munir, the reasons for the decision to feel Sisi continued to "concern of those around him," adding that "Sisi treacherous former president Mohammed Morsi, Vnbleb and imprisoned, and then betrayed all his supporters even from within The military establishment itself. "

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Munir pointed out that Sisi always feels the need to "secure himself from the treachery of those around him," especially as the anniversary of the 25 January revolution approaches.

Al-Munir ruled out that the decision aimed at austerity of the government, adding that "the system squandered the funds of the Egyptians on the welfare of its members, and will extend the decision to include all officials in all their travels."

Austerity and performance tuning
On the other hand, the leader of the party Naji Naji Shihabi that the decision is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, especially that the characters required for travel, the Constitution determined that the decision to appoint issued by the President, considering that the decision was delayed four years, from the first year in the presidency of Sisi.

Al-Shihabi praised the decision to grant the prime minister the authority to issue travel permits for the rest of the ministers, stressing that this decision would "create harmony and cooperation between departments and ministries, so that everyone does not work in isolated islands and travel expenses are reduced as part of the government's austerity policies."