A new presidential call in Egypt, to start a dialogue that includes “all institutions and orientations,” about 3 years after the first national dialogue sponsored by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, in a step that a former diplomat considered “an opportunity to move from the stage of diagnosing challenges to the stage of practical construction around the state’s priorities.”
On Thursday, the Egyptian President announced the launch of the preparatory sessions and the website for the “Egypt Forum 2026”, to begin registering attendees, and conducting a series of academic and community discussions and dialogues, in preparation for the forum to be held during the period from 19 to 24 October. According to a statement by the Egyptian Presidency.
Former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister, Ambassador Mohamed Hegazy, believes that the forum “represents an important opportunity to move the national dialogue from the stage of diagnosing challenges and exchanging visions, to the stage of building practical consensus on the state’s priorities and projects.”
Dialogue, from Hijazi’s point of view, “gains its value not only from its ability to produce understandings, but also from its ability to transform these understandings into decisions, programs and initiatives that respond to actual needs and open new paths for development.”
In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hegazy called for the forum to be “a space to agree on what should be done, how to implement it, the parties responsible for it, and the targeted results, and not just a platform for exchanging views.”
During Sisi’s call for dialogue, he stressed the importance of “the participation of all state institutions, experts, and the Egyptian people, of various sects and orientations, in registering on the forum’s website, expressing opinions, and registering proposals.”
Al-Sisi’s call came two days after a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and officials from various parts of the country, during which he stressed “the importance of making good use of the state’s resources, establishing confidence in its institutions, and ensuring the security of the internal front,” stressing that “preserving Egypt is a collective responsibility, and that work must be done on the cohesion of the internal front, which requires the combined efforts of all institutions and citizens.”
In April 2022, the Egyptian President called for the first national dialogue of its kind since he assumed the presidency in 2014, and it began in May 2023.
According to Hegazy, the importance of Sisi’s call lies in its orientation to “all institutions and trends to participate in expanding the base for creating ideas and solutions, and to benefit from the expertise of the state, the private sector, universities, research centers, civil society, youth, and Egyptians abroad.”
The value of this participation, according to Hegazy, “will be determined by its ability to transform consensus into concrete policies and projects in the economy, education, health, employment, administration, and local development.”
Hegazy proposed creating “an announced executive record of the forum’s outcomes, which includes the responsible parties, the required resources, timetables, and indicators of achievement, with periodic reports that allow public opinion to follow up on what has been implemented, what has failed, and the reasons for that.”
With the move of the Egyptian Senate (the second chamber of Parliament) to the headquarters of the new capital (east of Cairo), the transfer of the executive and legislative powers to the newly created city is completed, after the presidency and various ministries move along with the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Senate held its first session, the second session of its second legislative term, on Thursday, at its new headquarters in the new capital.
The move of the second chamber of Parliament to the new capital constitutes a new stage in strengthening its legislative role, according to members of the Senate and observers, who pointed out that “the purpose of the move is not to change buildings, but to develop performance and work mechanisms, and intensify interaction between the executive and legislative authorities.”
The Egyptian government inaugurated the new capital (east of Cairo), which it announced at an economic conference held in March 2015, to be a political and administrative headquarters for the state. Ministries and government institutions moved their headquarters to the new city, including the Presidency of the Republic, Parliament, and the Council of Ministers. The city also includes a “diplomatic district” to house the headquarters of foreign embassies.
Prior to the move of the Senate, the headquarters of the House of Representatives was moved to its new headquarters in the New Capital last year, before the Council’s sessions were organized there at the beginning of this year, with its new formation.
Although all government ministries, and many judicial, administrative, and investment bodies, have moved to the Administrative Capital since January 2024, within the “Governmental District,” the completion of the transfer of executive and legislative authority to the new city was not completed until the Senate moved to its new headquarters there.
The President of the Egyptian Senate, Counselor Essam Farid, opened the activities of the first opening session by reading the Egyptian President’s Resolution No. 399 of 2026, calling the Council to convene, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, which regulate the work of the Council.
The Senate bids farewell to its historic headquarters in downtown Cairo, which was known for decades for its unique architectural style, and was a witness to many developments in Egyptian parliamentary life. Its move to the new capital comes to close an important stage in the history of Egyptian political life, which extended for more than a century and a half, since Khedive Ismail established the Senate’s headquarters in 1866, and at that time it bore the name “The Shura Council of Representatives.”
The Senate's meeting in the new capital coincided, for the first time, with the start of the sessions of the second session of the House of Representatives at its new headquarters there.
Egyptian Senator Naji Al-Shehabi views the start of the Council’s sessions from the new capital, as “the title of a new phase in the history of the Council,” and said that “the new headquarters expresses modernity and development in the Council’s performance, and in exercising its legislative role, by discussing the various legislation referred to it with complete impartiality and impartiality.”
Al-Shehabi retains many memories of the former Senate headquarters, after spending several terms as a member of it. However, he said in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the new headquarters differs from the previous one, in terms of size and the breadth of the session hall,” noting that “bringing together the government ministries, along with the headquarters of the two chambers of Parliament in one place, will contribute to interaction between the two authorities during the coming period.”
The new headquarters of the Senate comes with a modern architectural design equipped with the latest technology, electronic voting mechanisms, simultaneous translation, and live broadcast of sessions.
The process of moving the Senate is not intended to change only buildings, according to Hassan Salama, professor of political science at Cairo University. He said that “the transfer of legislative and executive authority carries a new symbolism for the Egyptian government, targeting a change in policies and work mechanisms,” noting that “this must be accompanied by a development in the services provided to citizens.”
In statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, Salama believes that “the new headquarters of Parliament provide a better environment for representatives to exercise their legislative and oversight roles,” and he said that “the next stage must witness openness and frankness from service providers to citizens,” in addition to “strengthening integration between the roles of Parliament and the government, so that the ordinary citizen can feel this impact.”
The Egyptian army announced the implementation of joint military exercises with the Italian side, which included maneuvers in mountainous areas in Italy, days after a court ruling was issued that convicted three Egyptian security officials in the case of the murder of researcher Giulio Regeni.
The Egyptian military spokesman said, in a statement on Thursday, that “within the framework of the Armed Forces’ keenness to strengthen military cooperation with friendly and brotherly countries, elements of the Egyptian Thunderbolt Forces and the Italian Special Forces carried out joint training (4IT-EGY-T-) to train for combat in mountainous areas, and its implementation continued for several days in Italy.”
He added, "The events included the implementation of a number of tactical and specialized activities, including training on safe movement methods in mountainous areas and dealing with the nature of the rugged geographical terrain, as well as training on mountain climbing skills and rapid descent from heights in unconventional environments and weather conditions."
According to the Egyptian Army, “the training aims to exchange experiences, refine combat and specialized skills, and raise the levels of competence and readiness of the elements participating in carrying out tasks with special skills efficiently and competently.”
The training comes at a time when an Italian court, on Monday, sentenced three Egyptian officers to 10 years in prison, after convicting them of involvement in “kidnapping and detaining Regeni,” while the court acquitted Major General Tariq Saber, the former head of the National Security Service, in the case in which Egypt denies any involvement by state agencies.
The four were tried in absentia under Italian legislation that allows the prosecution of crimes committed against Italian citizens abroad. The Italian authorities said that they were unable to determine the whereabouts of the accused.
Regeni, a graduate student at the British University of Cambridge, disappeared in the Egyptian capital on January 25, 2016, and his body was found about a week later.
Relations between Italy and Egypt deteriorated severely following Regeni's murder, but they gradually recovered in the past few years. On September 3, Cairo hosted the joint supreme committee between Egypt and Italy, headed by the two foreign ministers, for the first time since 2014. A business forum was also held between the two sides to discuss enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries.
In a previous statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, said that Cairo and Rome separate bilateral relations from the procedures of the Regeni case, noting that “there is an agreement between Egypt and Italy to strengthen joint relations in various fields,” in addition to “dealing with the Italian researcher’s case file as an exceptional, individual crime, to be dealt with legally.”
