Egypt opposition MP: Resigning over island transfer 'no longer useful'
Nadia Henry, a member of Egypt’s opposition 25-30 bloc in parliament, tells Al-Monitor that the opposition will continue to fight the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia, and that a larger opposition coalition could be created.
CAIRO — After the Egyptian parliament approved an agreement on June 14 to transfer ownership of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, member of parliament Nadia Henry and her colleagues in the leftist 25-30 bloc threatened to resign. Now, in an interview with Al-Monitor at the Egyptian parliament in Cairo, she says that she and her colleagues believe their resignation from parliament is no longer useful.
Henry, who joined the leftist 25-30 bloc after resigning from the Free Egyptians Party in August 2016 over infighting within the party, says that instead of resigning, a larger opposition coalition will be formed and will include more than a hundred members of parliament.
The Coptic parliamentarian was among those Egyptians displaced from Ismailia to Cairo in the wake of the attrition war in 1969-70, during which Egypt defended its ownership of the Tiran and Sanafir islands. She says that Egyptian martyrs watered the soil of the islands with their blood.
The text of the interview follows:
