Egypt’s parliament preliminary approved a new bill on Monday to establish a supreme council for combatting terrorism and extremism (SCCTE).
All the 20 articles of the new bill were approved; however, parliamentary speaker Ali Abdul All announced that the final vote on the bill will be postponed because the constitution stipulates that at least two third of the members should be present at the time of voting, according to Ahram Online.
The new council will replace the national council for combatting terrorism that was established last June at the decree of Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after a series of terrorist attacks.
The council will be headed by the president and the key members will include the prime minister, religious and military figures and ministers, among other members. The key role of SCCTE is to combat terrorism and demolish extremism both internally and externally and it will coordinate with other bodies to implement inclusive plans to defeat terrorism.
The new council is appointed to implement a comprehensive strategy to be renewed every five years to eliminate terrorism and is set to cooperate with media and religious institutions to defeat extremist beliefs. SCCTE will convene every two months in Cairo governorate.
Egypt witnessed multiple terrorist attacks in recent years, primarily targeting security forces and churches. While initially the terrorist attacks were limited to North Sinai, it spread across several other governorates, including Cairo the capital. In February, Egypt’s army launched a major operation to fight terrorism in North and Central Sinai.