CAIRO — Egyptian member of parliament for three consecutive terms since 2005, founder and subsequent president of the Reform and Development Party, and nephew of late President Anwar Sadat, Mohamed Anwar Esmat al-Sadat affirmed that he and his family fell victim to many difficult circumstances due to their political stances, including being stripped of his membership in the 2007 People’s Assembly, only 48 hours after being elected, in a precedent never before seen in the Egyptian parliament. He also recounted seeing his brother Talaat, also an MP, jailed for one year after being convicted by a military court of contempt of the military, which he accused of complacency in protecting President Anwar Sadat when the latter was assassinated in 1981.
Al-Monitor interviewed Sadat about the challenges faced by the Egyptian parliament and the state of human rights in Egypt, as well as his opinion about reconciliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, the calls for demonstrations on the upcoming anniversary of the revolution, and his view concerning calls to amend the Camp David Accords with Israel, among other matters.
