Is there a plan for you to join the Party Youth Coordination or any other political entities?<\/strong><\/p>\nI have no explicit plan, but I am open to it, and I have not yet decided what I will do in the future, because I am still at the beginning of my return to political life, which I stayed away from for ten years or more, during which I was only an observer.<\/p>\n
Your comment on what is being said about your cooperation with officials in the current regime, turning against your ideas and orientations? And if there is cooperation, what form does it take?<\/strong><\/p>\nI hear this talk a lot, and my response is that Asmaa Mahfouz has not changed, but like any human being I develop and try to reach the best version of myself. I have not turned against my ideas at all, but every time has its style and tools: the time of the January revolution and the opposition to the regime before it was a stage with its own tools, and now reality is different and the tools are different, since society itself has become different.<\/p>\n
There is no direct cooperation between me and the authorities, but I find courteous treatment at any government body I deal with. Other than that, there is no direct cooperation with any body, nor any body that moves me, dictates what I say or gives me orders.<\/p>\n
And how do you assess the results of the National Dialogue in which you took part?<\/strong><\/p>\nI took part in more than one session, whether as a speaker or a listener. From the beginning I encouraged the idea of the National Dialogue and asked to attend, because I liked the idea. The idea of dialogue itself is for the authorities to listen to us, and it is not necessary for them to implement what we say the first time. I also admired the inclusion of different entities and people to the degree I saw in the National Dialogue, because it provided space for good interaction among us; there were people who had criticised me before whom I met behind the scenes, and as the interaction continued each of us came to see the other differently. I see this as progress and a step forward in realising that, despite our differences, we are all from Egypt, we have rights, and we must listen to each other. In front of the cameras, presenting our ideas our own way was a step towards changing the smears that had targeted us for many years on the authorities’ own channels and tools, and reaching the point where the authorities listen to our ideas was important. We managed to come out with recommendations praised by the head of state himself, which is an important step. They have not been implemented, yes, but we can tell the opponents of these recommendations that the head of state himself praised them, and we are currently trying to press for their implementation. I look forward to a second National Dialogue that builds on the first.<\/p>\n