The members of parliament “25–30 bloc” called on the government to hand over the records of the meetings of the National Committee for Demarcating the Maritime Borders with Saudi Arabia.
They also called on the government to deliver the “letter sent by the Finance Ministry to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1949”, in which Finance Ministry confirms that the Red Sea islands are Egyptian territories and states that the Egyptian Survey Authority has surveyed these islands as Egyptian land.
The bloc also called for inviting other experts with objective criteria to express all views, including Dr. Noor Farhat, Sabri al-Adl, Mahmoud Kabish and Haidi Farouk.
The ’25–30′ bloc denounced accusations of treason against MPs who support the claims that Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian territories.
The bloc demanded a parliamentary investigation against any MP who accuses colleagues of treason.
The Legislative and Constitutional committee of the House of Representatives is discussing the maritime demarcation agreement signed between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in April 2016.
A report on the situation of the two Red Sea islands filed by the government to the parliament yesterday said that Egypt would enjoy and administrative rights on the islands but it would sovereign Saudi lands.
Massive disputes erupted on Sunday among Egypt’s MPs (parliament members), while discussing the maritime demarcation agreement that is supposed to grant Saudi Arabia sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanfir.
Verbal quarrels erupted between a number of MPs in opposition of the deal and government representatives, with the former claiming they did not see the original documents of the deal signed between Egypt and Saudi Arabia until now.
According to the border demarcation agreement signed in April 2016, the two islands were deemed to be within Saudi territorial waters, in recognition of historical claims on the part of Saudi Arabia. The Supreme Administrative Court, however, nullified this agreement on the basis that there was not insufficient evidence of the Saudi claims.
The agreement provoked extensive criticism against the government in April and people took to the streets to protest against the decision, which was followed by a security crackdown. In a speech, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on the Egyptian people not to talk about the matter anymore.
