Egyptian MPs back Sisi against court over 'Saudi islands'

Despite a court ruling on Tuesday going against Egypt's controversial island deal with Saudi Arabia, Egyptian parliamentarians have insisted that they will have last say in a debate on the issue next month.

The chairman of the parliament's Defence and National Security Committee, Kamal Amer, told reporters on Wednesday that article 151 of the Egyptian constitution gives the republic's president the power to take charge of the nation's foreign affairs. In turn, foreign agreements may only be endorsed once they have parliament's approval, Amer explained.

‎‎"We respect judicial authorities and we respect court ‎rulings, but regardless of any rulings in this respect, it is ‎parliament that has the final constitutional power to ‎say yes or no to foreign agreements signed by the‎president and the government," Amer told reporters. 

"When the Egyptian-Saudi agreement comes up for ‎debate before parliament, a special committee will be ‎formed to decide first whether this agreement should ‎be a matter of public referendum or not."

"In light of ‎article 151, we will see whether this agreement will ‎negatively affect any of Egypt's sovereignty rights, and if ‎not there will not be a referendum and it will be just ‎enough for parliament to debate and vote on it," he continued.‎

A statement releast by the Salafist Nour party on Tuesday also seemed to challenge the ruling by the administrative court.

Cross-party agreement

The assuredness voiced by Amer was echoed by other Egyptian MPs, including independents and Islamists.

Mostafa Bakri, an independent, appeared on television on Tuesday and said that he expected the matter will be decided by Egypt's parliament next month.

"I insist that article 151 of the ‎constitution gives parliament the final say on this ‎agreement regardless of any court rulings," said Bakri.‎

A statement releast by the Salafist Nour party on Tuesday also seemed to challenge the ruling by the administrative court.

"This is a first ‎instance ruling and by no means it strips parliament of ‎discussing and voting on the agreement on these two ‎islands," the party's statement said.‎

	Egyptians protest against the islands deal in April [Getty]

Also citing article 151 of the ‎constitution, the ultraconservative salafist party added that, "the Egyptian-Saudi deal on Tiran and ‎Sanafir is a foreign agreement and as a result they must ‎be discussed and voted by parliament."

On Tuesday, a cairo court ruled that the island deal violates the country's constitution - which prohibits the transfer of any Egyptian territory. The court also called for a referendum on matters relating to state sovereignty.

The government's surrender of the islands sparked the largest street demonstrations since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi assumed power, with protesters accusing the general-turned-president of selling them in return for Saudi investment.

More than 150 people were sentenced to jail in mid-May for their roles in the protests.