CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressed his frayed relations with political parties May 27 by stating, during a meeting with them, that the presidential institution stands at an unbiased and equal distance from all political forces. The president proposed — and promised to support — a unified list of all political parties and forces that are to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, which the government is keen to hold this year.

Egyptian political parties have had strained ties with the presidency since April, because of the laws regulating elections, which were deemed unfit for a healthy political life. The laws also threatened the coming parliament with unconstitutionality, which could lead to its dissolution, as happened in 2012. Party leaders like Mohammed Anwar al-Sadat, president of the Reform and Development Misruna Party, expressed his opinion.

The For the Love of Egypt Alliance, which comprises several political parties and is reportedly supported by the state, drew the ire of many parties that were already against the government's controversial and unpopular law on the right to demonstrate.

Several parties submitted a memorandum to the Supreme Constitutional Court to demand expediting the case challenging the constitutionality of the protest law, including the Democratic Alliance parties (Communist Party, Dignity Party, Justice Party, Masr al-Hurreya and the Egyptian Popular Current); the Egyptian Social Democratic Party; and the Bread and Freedom Party. Some members of the Committee of 50, which prepared the constitution, signed the memorandum. The parties pointed out that the right to protest has been ratified by the constitution, but the protest law violated this, as it led to the incarceration of hundreds of young Egyptian men and women.