Al-Obeidi Calls for Community Dialogue with Expatriate MPs

Bahgat al-Obeidi, the founder of the International Federation of Egyptian Citizens Abroad said that amending the constitutional articles approved by citizens in the recent referendum guaranteed Egyptians abroad the appropriate representation in the House of Representatives.

Al-Obeidi added that eight members were appointed to represent the Egyptian expatriates in the current parliament. "The number is small, yet, it is considered a step forward for the June 30 revolution, in which expatriates gained this advantage that they had previously been denied," noting that Egyptians abroad did not represent nor had the right to vote before the revolution.

However, he is dissatisfied with the activities of these eight representatives, stating that they are not known to the vast majority of expatriates, not even one of them, due to several factors, including the electoral mechanism.

He pointed out that one of the members of the People's Assembly asked Ali Abdel-Al, the Speaker of the Parliament, to send the names of the Egyptian expats' representatives to embassies, given that they do not play an active role within the communities abroad.

He stressed that "these members are only trying to influence public opinion through forms of social communication to attract the largest possible number of voters, without carrying out any concrete activity on the ground for the benefit of Egyptian expatriates."

"After following some of these platforms and dialogues taking place between expatriate MPs, I observed the simplicity of the cultural level of some of them, as well as the narcissism in the conversation, and the clearest observation was that they insist on keeping the parliamentary chair for a second period, even though they did not succeed nor achieve anything," the founder of the International Federation said.

"After following some of these platforms forms and dialogues taking place between expatriate MPs, I noticed the simplicity of some of the cultural level, as well as the narcissism in the conversation, and it was the clearest note that they insisted on preserving the parliamentary chair for a second period, even though they did not succeed nor achieve anything," the founder of the International Federation said.

He stressed the importance of presenting those parliamentary members to a societal dialogue with the symbols of the Egyptian expatriates, in addition to the relevant Egyptian institutions.

Al-Obeidi hinted that this dialogue is of great importance, and that it is necessary to reach a satisfactory compromise formula for Egyptians abroad, who play a major role in all areas not only for their economic impact, on their contributions to the foreign currency portfolio through their remittances, but also in social and political life.