Egypt postpones voting on military support to Saudi Arabia

O Egyptian parliament today postponed to 26 October the plenary session convened at the request of the President of the country to vote on possible military support to Saudi Arabia in the face of attacks by Yemen's Huthis.

 
The Egyptian House of Representatives indicated in a brief statement that it postponed “until next Monday the session where the request for authorisation of the President [Abdel Fattah al-Sisi] will be discussed to provide support to Saudi Arabia”.

Parliament, chaired by Hisham Badawi, has already held a plenary session on Sunday in response to the request of the Head of State, but after more than two hours of discussions whose details have not yet been released, they have decided to postpone the vote for today.

In response, Huthis rebel-controlled President of Parliament Yahya Ali al Raai warned Egypt against any military intervention in Yemen.

In an “urgent letter” signed by members of the Huthi Parliament and sent to the President of the Egyptian Parliament, Al Raai warned that an intervention by Egypt in Yemen “will pose a serious danger to its national security and internal stability” as well as to regional stability.

Furthermore, he expressed concern that Egypt might militarily support Saudi Arabia, a country that has been under Huthi fire in recent months and whose energy and civilian facilities — including its airports — have been the subject of attacks that have caused dozens of deaths and injuries in just a few weeks.

“ We categorically reject dragging Arab and historical Egypt into a battle that does not reflect its values,” Al Raai said, after arguing that Cairo should not join forces fighting Yemen, although the Egyptian army has been part of the Riyadh-led military coalition that has intervened against the Huthis since 2015.

Although the details of the proposal to be put to the vote are still unknown, some Arab and Egyptian analysts and media suggest that the request may include the mobilisation of air defense systems and fighters, together with their operators and technicians, and even a possible deployment of troops.

The only official information on this proposal was what Al-Sisi said on Saturday when he stated that Egypt will take all the necessary measures to defend Riyadh and asked Parliament to convene an extraordinary session to discuss possible defensive support.

Article 152 of the Egyptian Constitution stipulates that the President of the Republic, who is simultaneously the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, cannot declare war or mobilize the army for combat missions outside the borders of the country without prior consultation with the National Defense Council and obtaining the approval of the House of Representatives by a two-thirds majority.

Some Egyptian MPs have already expressed doubts about this request, and on Sunday the Egyptian Social Democratic Party stated in a statement that it will abstain, justifying that although its solidarity with the Saudi kingdom and the Arab countries is “unstoppable”, it considers that “save Egyptian national security requires clear objectives”.

For his part, the independent deputy Mostafa Bakry said today, in a message on social network X, that “deterrence is an important factor in achieving a political solution to crises”, after he stressed that Egypt is doing “intense efforts to achieve a political solution to the Yemeni crisis”.

These developments arise after, in mid-September, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman made a lightning visit to Egypt to meet with Al-Sisi, with whom he agreed that “current circumstances require greater solidarity and coordination between both countries, as their interests and objectives coincide.”.

Saudi Arabia is one of Egypt's main allies in the Middle East and the main pillar of economic support.

The clashes between the Yemeni Huthis and government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, put an end to the ceasefire agreement of 2022 and had largely stopped fighting in Yemeni civil war.

Saudi Arabia has been widely targeted by attacks by the pro-Iran Shiite rebels, which have affected airports, oil plants and other infrastructure in Saudi territory.