House Speaker criticized for clamping down on media and expression in Sahar Al Gaara’s latest column

Sahar Al Gaara takes to the pages of Al Masry Al Youm to sharply criticize what she describes as House Speaker Ali Abdel Aal’s authoritarian management style. Gaara says that Abdel Aal — the second most important man in Egypt after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi — is expected to be a champion of the people, yet instead has been leading an intimidation campaign against the media and clamping down on opposing views. She cites the investigation of journalist Ibrahim Eissa and the ejection of MP Mohamed El Sadat as prime examples of this. “It would be a crime to have a House of Representatives that is incapable of encompassing difference and diversity,” she says.