Egypt's parliament approves three-month state of emergency

Egypt’s countrywide state of emergency, which will give the security forces wide-ranging powers, was declared by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after Palm Sunday attacks but required parliamentary approval according to the constitution.

“It’s come too late, we should have implemented it before, we shouldn’t have waited till now because we could have stopped all these terrorist attacks and security forces could have acted to prevent what had happened,” said parliamentarian, Ahmed Hussein Al-Khashab.

However, Egyptians are divided on the three-month-long state of emergency declared by Al-Sisi after the terror attack by Islamic State (IS).

The move, along with other measures such as allowing law enforcement officers to arrest suspected people without charge and tightening restrictions on undocumented capital flow, is expected to help the country’s fight against terrorism.

“In such cases, a three-month-long state of emergency is acceptable. Once (terrorists are) found, they should be brought to justice,” said a Cairo resident.

“I agree with the state of emergency measure because of the current situations. But I hope the law enforcement officers would use their rights in the right way,” said another Cairo resident.

Apart from the twin blasts on Sunday, Egypt has suffered several major terror attacks over the past two years.

“No one can say that Egypt’s war against terrorists is easy. This is not a war you can win with one battle. It is a special war. The terrorists are playing guerrilla warfare. They have nice equipment and they have aid from outside forces,” said Mohammad Amin, expert on anti-terrorism.

Analysts believe the frequent terrorist activities in the neighboring areas and the penetration of terrorists and the spread, the extreme ideas have made it very difficult for the government to fight terrorists.

Analyst believe the frequent terrorist activities in the neighboring areas, and the spread, have made it very difficult for the government to fight terrorists.