Draft law on public decency causes outrage in Egypt

Draft law on public decency causes outrage in Egypt

Wed, 2019-11-20 03:53

CAIRO: A proposed Egyptian law concerning public decency has been fiercely criticized by some members of Parliament, including the speaker of the house.

According to Article 4 of the draft law, it would not be permitted to wear body-revealing clothing or clothes with pictures or symbols that violate public decency, including ripped jeans.

Parliament Speaker Aly Abdel-Aal slammed the draft, which was proposed by MP Ghada El-Agamy. "I am sure that those who read the draft law did not read it properly. We are in a country that accepts everyone. We should not interfere in personal affairs,“ Abdel-Aal said.

"I stopped at the expression of public decency because this is an expression that can never be controlled since it covers behavior. It is a relative perspective, something that is acceptable to some people but unacceptable to others,“ Abdel-Aal added.

MP Mohamed Abu Hamed said the draft law clashes with the constitution, and that mere talk about such issues would harm the tourism sector. Abu Hamed said the bill flies in the face of the constitution in terms of freedom of clothing and other forms of personal liberty.

El-Agamy said the MPs who expressed their opinion about the bill during the general session did not read it in the first place.

She said Abdel-Aal's opinion matters, adding that