Egyptian parliament on Monday has approved legal amendments that allows the government to sack civil servants with suspected links to terrorist groups without prior disciplinary action.
State media hailed the move as a crucial step in an effort to rid government bodies of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt considers a terrorist organization, according to a parliamentary source.
The new legislation will allow the government to immediately fire any employee whose name appears on a terrorism list.
Suspects who are still being investigated or on trial, as well as those who have been convicted in terrorism cases, are included.
Some liberal and leftist activists are on the list, as well as people who have been placed on the terrorism watch list by a court order.
They face an asset freeze and a travel ban in most cases, although they have 60 days to appeal the verdict.
Public prosecutors file requests in court to add individuals or groups to the list, and the court makes the final decision.
Since 1972, the government has been able to fire any public employee deemed a threat to national security under the dismissal without disciplinary action legislation.
The amendments classify presence on the terrorist list as serious evidence of such a threat, while also allowing dismissed employees to appeal before administrative courts.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has overseen a broad crackdown on Islamist and liberal political opponents since leading the overthrow of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi as army chief in 2013.
A parliamentary committee said in a report on the legal amendments that they aim to preserve Egypt’s national security and combat corruption.
According to a NAN report, the committee made the amendment in line with a constitutional commitment for the state to fight terrorism.
Many Egyptians accepted the amendments on social media while others expressed concerns that the state could target any employee who is not pro-government regardless of any affiliation to Islamist groups.