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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Supplement Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Parliamentary row over social services
By Gamal Essam El-Din
Although the government easily won parliament's approval of the new budget and annual development plan on Monday, it faced severe criticism from opposition and independent legislators, who complained that the budget was greatly deficient in the provision of social services. Leftist and liberal deputies agreed that budgetary allocations fell far short of meeting the government's obligations towards underprivileged social classes. They went as far as accusing the government of imposing "invisible" taxes, raising electricity and transport prices and publishing misleading information about the construction cost of the giant Toshka project in the south-western desert.
Prime Minister
Kamal El-Ganzouri
In response, Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri said the fact that the budget and development plan did not go down well with the opposition did not surprise him. "My colleagues in the opposition are like brothers to me," he said. "However, throughout my career over the last 18 years, I have failed to win their approval of state budgets and development plans -- not once. I have great respect for the opposition, but the fact is that they do their best to find reasons to object to the budget and plan. At any rate, I respect others' points of view. I will always listen to their comments, and I will never resort to using harsh words."
El-Ganzouri's clash with the opposition erupted when El-Badri Farghali, a leftist MP, claimed that the new budget was tailored to serve the affluent few at the expense of the impoverished majority. "Are you aware that last year the affluent paid a mere LE1.7 billion in taxes, while the impoverished were burdened with footing an exorbitant tax bill of LE41 billion?" Farghali asked. "The government claims every now and then that it has no plans for imposing new taxes in the years to come. But in this year's budget, the government acted to raise the sales tax revenue from LE14.5 billion to LE16.5 billion. Of course, this will be at the expense of the impoverished classes who will be forced to foot the bill." Worse, Farghali added, the government has "sanctioned" unemployment by freezing new appointments in government departments.
To the surprise of many, Yassin Serageddin, spokesman of the liberal Wafd Party, joined forces with Farghali by insisting that several "invisible" taxes had been imposed by the government. "Are you aware that cabinet ministers and provincial governors have established a number of illegal funds allegedly aimed at financing public services?" Serageddin asked. He also charged that the Finance Ministry did not even bother to check the extravagant expenditures of some ministries. "The budget of the Foreign Ministry, which still insists on having embassies in all countries of the world, is an obvious example," he said. "The culture, tourism and trade ministries also insist on having attachés in Egypt's embassies all over the world. Why don't we commission one embassy with serving a number of countries in far away places and save a lot of money? Why should we appoint a cultural attaché in a country such as Mozambique?" Serageddin said.
Serageddin also lashed out at Culture Minister Farouk Hosni. He claimed that Hosni was set to squander as much as LE100 million on an international celebration marking the third millennium. Serrageddin concluded by accusing the government of releasing false information about the construction cost of the Toshka project.
For his part, Sameh Ashour, the sole representative of the Nasserist Party in parliament, criticised the government's decision to reduce the price of land sold to investors and businessmen east of Port Said and to the west of the Gulf of Suez. "The land price was reduced from LE20 to LE5 per square metre," he said. "This means that at least LE1 billion was willingly relinquished by the government for no justifiable reason. Who gave the government the right to offer this reduction? It does not have the right to do this, especially if it is offered to those who do not deserve it."
Instead, Ashour urged the government to offer greater incentives to investment in Upper Egypt.
Prime Minister El-Ganzouri responded by arguing that "people are really happy that no taxes were imposed over the last four years." He said that neither provincial governors nor cabinet ministers are empowered to establish public service funds. "This type of fund can only be established by a presidential decree. When we say that no additional taxes will be imposed, we really mean this, otherwise, our credibility will be at stake," El-Ganzouri said.
He added that he had rejected a recommendation to raise the electricity price for the inhabitants of Cairo. "This hike was intended to raise by LE1.5 billion the selling price of the Cairo Electricity Distribution Company when its turn comes for privatisation. But I refused because it is a matter of credibility and living up to promises," El-Ganzouri said. He announced that on the request of many deputies, the government had decided to allocate an additional LE850 million to finance social services.
Kamal El-Shazli, minister of state for parliamentary affairs, said that Egypt's foreign policy was aimed at fostering strong relations with all countries of the world. "This is why embassies are needed everywhere," he added.
El-Shazli said that Serageddin's verbal attack on Culture Minister Farouk Hosni was unjustified. "Are you aware that a ministerial committee has been established to decide how the celebrations of the next millennium will be organised? It has not reached a decision yet and consequently no funds have been allocated," he said.
