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Al-Ahram Weekly 5 - 11 August 1999 Issue No. 441 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 5 - 11 August 1999 Issue No. 441
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Focus Interview Features Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Redefining
By Gamal Essam El-Din
parliamentary immunityPeople's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour surprised political circles this week by announcing that he is now fully convinced that the constitution should be amended to bring corruption practices committed by MPs under swift control. In more specific terms, Sorour proposed that the assembly's bureau, including the speaker, his two deputies and chairmen of parliamentary committees, be solely entrusted with deciding on the requests submitted for the removal of the immunity of MPs.
The constitution states that as long as parliament is in session, the assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Committee should be the authority empowered with deciding on the requests submitted for the removal of the immunity of MPs. During the summer recess, however, the constitution empowers the speaker to decide on these requests, provided that parliament be immediately informed of his decisions at the first sitting of the next session.
"This must be changed because in both cases it takes a lot of routine measures and in some cases it was used by some MPs to protect themselves from prosecution and judicial authorities. My proposal is that the constitution be amended to solely entrust the assembly's bureau with deciding on immunity-lifting requests in order to shorten and speed up action and bring parliamentary corruption under control. This is what happens in France and should also happen in Egypt," Sorour said in a written statement this week.
Sorour explained, however, that his idea is "just a proposal" because amendment of the constitution is completely ruled out at the present time.
Although he is usually cautious when speaking his mind on constitutional matters, Sorour was forced to make this announcement following a recent spurt in corruption charges levelled against MPs. In one week, three MPs, all of them from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), faced corruption charges, ranging from committing financial malpractices to involvement in acts of hooliganism. Aside from the recent dramatic developments in the current trial of four MPs dubbed by the local press as "loan deputies", the present parliamentary summer recess has been rife with an unprecedented number of alleged dishonest practices and illegal acts of profiteering on the part of MPs.
Topping the recent list of MPs charged with improper behaviour was Omar Abu Steit, a veteran NDP deputy for the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag. Abu Steit was accused last week of recruiting eight "thugs" to evict by force the residents of an apartment building he had bought in Giza Governorate. For his part, Abu Steit hotly denied his involvement. He asserted that most of the facts about the incident were manipulated by police to show him as "the sinner rather than the one sinned against". Abu Steit promised to reveal the real facts before the Legislative and Constitutional Committee in case a request for lifting his parliamentary immunity was submitted.
Next on the parliamentary list of alleged wrongdoers was Mahmoud Abul-Nasr. Abul-Nasr, a prominent businessman who is the chairman of a group of companies involved in diverse activities ranging from tobacco to textile production, was accused by Al-Menoufiya Governor Adli Hussein of evading the payment of more than LE5 million for four plots of land he was allotted in Mubarak Industrial City (Al-Menoufiya Governorate) to establish a number of projects.
Hussein, who filed a complaint with the Socialist prosecutor-general against Abul-Nasr, said that this measure against Abul-Nasr "is part of my war against corruption and corrupt people".
Some time ago, Hussein, who is an open and defiant critic of the ruling party, launched a fierce war against NDP MPs in Al-Menoufiya Governorate, describing them as irresponsible and corrupt deputies.
Also on the list of allegedly corrupt deputies was Mohamed Sadek Okasha. Two weeks ago, a request was submitted for the removal of Okasha's immunity so that he could be investigated for issuing a bad cheque to the value of LE1 million. The Legislation Committee turned down the request as Okasha, through a number of documents, managed to convince members that he had paid back the money and reached a reconciliatory settlement.
Okasha's documents, however, were later found by Sorour to be false. Sorour said Okasha's business partner, to whom the worthless cheque was issued, had presented him with new documents proving that Okasha, in collaboration with a lawyer, had managed to deceive the Legislative Committee by providing its members with forged reconciliation details. Sorour, following verification of the forgery, decided to lift Okasha's immunity.
Mohamed Moussa, chairman of the Legislative Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that he was strongly in favour of removing Okasha's immunity because the committee's members were not qualified to verify the documents presented by Okasha. "I urged my colleagues in the committee to approve lifting Okasha's immunity because we were not in a position to say if the documents were genuine or false. A large number of them, however, contended that the immunity-lifting request against Okasha is based on malice and should be turned down," Moussa said.
Sorour's decision to rescind Okasha's immunity has now led to a personal rift between Sorour and the Legislative Committee's members. Although he is solely empowered by the constitution to decide on immunity-lifting requests during the summer recess, Sorour decided some time ago to seek the Legislative Committee's opinion on these requests by involving its members into consultative debates. Sorour was shocked by the attempt of some deputies last week to manipulate these meetings by holding a sit-in to protest judicial measures against the "loan deputies". Sorour also was disheartened by the committee's failure to discover Okasha's forgery. He has decided this week to reverse his position and make the final decision on immunity-lifting requests his responsibility alone.
Commenting on Sorour's decision, the Legislative Committee's Chairman Moussa told the Weekly that it was largely due to the furore created by the attempt of some MPs to organise a sit-in during the committee meeting. "This was highly criticised in different circles because it gave the impression that MPs tried to take advantage of immunity to evade prosecution and judicial investigation," said Moussa. He added that he fully agrees with Sorour on his fresh call to have the constitution amended to speed up the immunity-lifting measures. "But I do not think that the time has come yet to introduce any amendments to the constitution," Moussa said.
