Egypt Parliament support the government in GERD disagreement

The Egyptian Senate that is the upper house of the bicameral parliament showed its support to the government in the disagreement about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile.

After a gathering with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Wednesday, members of the Senate’s foreign affairs committee stated that they are backing the decisions that the government would take if Ethiopia decide to take a decision that affecting Egypt’s water security.

Recently, the disagreement with Ethiopia increased in Addis Ababa’s persistence to go forward with the programmed second filling of the dam in July/August although appeals and alerting from both Sudan and Egypt against its unilateral decision.

Previously this month, discussions hosted in Kinshasa finished with no progress. Senate member Dr. Abdel-Moneim Said showed that there is an international effort to restore negotiations and resolve the disagreement. He also affirmed that Cairo would not undermine its interests, and is trying to solve the matter diplomatically.

Cairo’s inquietude

Indeed, Cairo worries about the potential negative impact of GERD on the flow of its annual part of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic meters of water particularly that it depend on on it for more than 90 percent of its water provisions.

On his part, Chief of the Republican People’s Party and Senate member Hazem Omar declared that the gathering with Shoukry came in accordance with the permanent coordination between the executive and legislative bodies to confront the present challenges.

The gathering discussed the consequences that Addis Ababa’s coordination and unilateral steps would have on the future of development and stability of the Horn of Africa and countries in eastern Africa. Otherwise, Cairo and Addis Ababa accused each other about responsibility for the failure of negotiations on GERD.

Furthermore, Shoukry told the Senate that Addis Ababa has frequently refused much mediation to solve the matter and insisted to apply its plans. Cairo and Khartoum try a legally obligatory deal about the operations and filling of the dam that Addis Ababa states it’s vital to its economic development.