Ahmad Fathi Sorour (; 9 July 1932 – 5 April 2024) was an Egyptian politician who was the Speaker of the

People's Assembly of Egypt The House of Representatives () is the lower house of Egypt's bicameral parliament. Formation of the House The 2014 constitution that was passed in the 2014 constitutional referendum has put into place the following rules: the House that is e ...

from 1990 until the

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution (;), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against ...

. Previously he had served in the government as Minister of Education from 1986 to 1990. Sorour was first elected to the People's Assembly in April 1989, and he was elected as Speaker in November 1990. He was President of the Council of the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

in 1994–1997 and also served as President of the Union of African Parliaments in 1990–1991. According to Article 84 of the Egyptian Constitution, Sorour, as Speaker of the People's Assembly, was first in the

order of succession An order, line or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated, such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.President of Egypt The president of the Arab Republic of Egypt () is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the History of the Egypt ...

if the President died, became incapacitated, or resigned. Upon the resignation of

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

in 2011, however, the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

, headed by

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Muhammad Hussein Tantawi Soliman (; 31 October 1935 – 21 September 2021) was an Egyptian field marshal and politician. He was the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces and, as chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, was ...

, assumed control of the state.

Early Life

Sorour was born on July 1932 in

Qena Governorate Qena () is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is in Upper Egypt, the southern part of the country. It covers a stretch of the Nile valley. Its capital is the city of Qena. Overview The rate of poverty is more than 60% in this governorate but ...

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

. He studied law at

Cairo University Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

and obtained a doctorate in criminal law. Later on he obtained a master's degree in law from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

Allegations and controversies

Allegations of non-compliance with the judiciary

Sorour was widely criticized for article 93 of the Egyptian Constitution: "The parliament is the master of its decisions", meaning that the parliament could make a decision about its membership regardless of any judicial decisions. This article caused significant concerns amidst allegations that parliamentary elections were repeatedly and systematically rigged. Sorour continued to assert that the parliament was the competent authority to decide the validity of its memberships despite the widely acknowledged allegations of rigging. Following the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Sorour's parliament was dissolved and article 93 was referred for revision.

2011 revolution

In the aftermath of the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

in Egypt (25 January 2011 – 11 February 2011) the Supreme Military Council, led by

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

, was appointed to the position of Acting President. The Supreme Military Council dissolved the Egyptian Parliament which was headed by Sorour. This came following widespread allegations that the elections leading to this parliament, headed by Sorour, were rigged. On 14 February 2011, the Egyptian daily news ''Alwafd'' reported that the ruling military authorities opted to prosecute a senior member of Sorour's team for allegedly burning confidential documents in Sorour's office. The same newspaper reported that a restraining order was issued preventing Sorour from entering the parliament building following allegations of smuggling undisclosed documents from the building. Sorour was seen as one of the figures that caused the fall of Mubarak's rule. Some believed that Mubarak's mistake was that he increasingly gave too much latitude to his son's cabal, including Ahmad Fathi Sorour, among others. Fathi Sorour openly supported measures taken to crack down on the pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt. In a televised interview with Elmehwar TV in January 2011, Sorour was asked for an opinion on the US disapproval of the Egyptian authorities' action: disconnecting internet services in an attempt to halt the demonstrations. Sorour replied that the US "did more than that when it was subjected to terrorism", portraying some similarity between pro-democracy demonstrators in Egypt and the terrorists who attacked the United States. Sorour subsequently stated that he didn't view the pro-democracy demonstrators as terrorists.

Death

Sorour died on 5 April 2024, at the age of 91.

References

External links

Profile
at the Egyptian People's Assembly
Profile
at the Egypt State Information Service

at the

Interparliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

*
Ahmed Fathi Sorour
collected news and commentary at '' Ikhwanweb'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorour, Ahmed Fathi 1932 births 2024 deaths Speakers of the Parliament of Egypt National Democratic Party (Egypt) politicians Permanent delegates of Egypt to UNESCO Higher education ministers of Egypt Ministers of education of Egypt Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Sudan People from Qena Governorate