A presidential adviser said on Monday the new draft should ease Western and opposition concerns that the Mursi administration is moving Egypt away from the democratic ideals behind the 2011 uprising that ousted the autocratic Mubarak.
Restrictions on civil society have remained a source of friction with Western states that help to finance non-government organizations working on human rights and economic, social and political development.
Mursi said in a speech that the new bill drafted by his administration did not signify a crackdown.
“It enables civil society to be assured that the state will not…restrict civil society organizations that work in service of the sons of the nation,” Mursi said.
The new draft does away with controversial language that considers NGO funds as public money. A presidential adviser said it also ensures that security officials cannot serve on a steering committee, though they can still be consulted.
Activists who have seen the new draft say it is similar to earlier proposals backed by the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
“This law remains restrictive because it allows the government to control NGOs access to funding, both foreign and domestically and it allows for government interference in NGO activities,” said Heba Morayef, Egypt director for Human Rights Watch.
The new draft stipulates that a steering committee supervising NGO activities “may seek assistance” from whoever it wants, including security officials.
“This is a way to control the activities of NGOs,” said Mohamed Zaree of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, who called the law “very repressive.” He said he feared the steering committee would block funding to groups working on politically sensitive issues like abuses by security forces.
Egypt is polarized between supporters of Mursi’s Brotherhood and secular liberals who accuse him of attempting to stifle dissent.
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By Maggie Fick. Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Omar Fahmy and Asma Alsharif; Editing by Angus MacSwan. Reuters
