In a surprise move, however, the new minister of social solidarity disregarded the effort of the former minister and civil society and unveiled another proposed law on June 26, which flagrantly contravenes the spirit and the letter of the constitution. Closely resembling the proposed law put up for discussion during the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule, the new bill aims to “nationalize” some 40,000 civil society groups and make them quasi-governmental adjuncts. Three weeks later, on July 18, the minister issued a warning to what he called “entities operating in the field of civic work,” threatening to dissolve them within 45 days.
On July 24, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb met with Bahey eldin Hassan, the director of the CIHRS, who presented a memorandum signed by 23 rights organizations demanding that the minister’s bill of June 26 and his warning of July 18 be withdrawn. Mehleb promised to meet with the signatory organizations within ten days to discuss their demands, but more than one month later he has not kept his promise. The memorandum sent to the president makes the same demands included in the memo to the prime minister.
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http://www.cihrs.org/?p=9097&;lang=en
