 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 November 1999 Issue No. 456 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 November 1999 Issue No. 456
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters More MPs to lose immunity
By Gamal Essam El-DinAllegations of the involvement of People's Assembly and Shura Council members in financial malpractices continued to ring alarm bells in the two houses of parliament for the second consecutive week. Hassan Khedr, minister of Supply and Internal Trade, submitted a request for dropping the immunity of Mohamed Badawi, a member of the Shura Council and chairman of the Egyptian Company for the Wholesale Trade of Food Commodities (ECWTFC), so that he can be investigated by prosecution authorities for the allegedly using ECWTFC's funds to provide credit facilities without receiving adequate collateral.
Badawi is also charged with making it possible for seven traders to receive large quantities of goods and commodities, estimated at LE55 million, without adequate collateral. According to Khedr's request, one of the traders received several thousand tonnes of sugar, estimated to be worth more than LE2 million, and offered as collateral a small piece of land valued at less than LE40,000.
In the meantime, Shura Council Speaker Mustafa Kamal Helmi announced that he had agreed to drop the immunity of Mohamed Abdel-Qader El-Garhi, a member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) for El-Fayoum governorate, so that he could be investigated for alleged financial wrongdoing. Helmi also gave permission to four Council members -- Mohamed Abdel-Aal, Talaat Mansour, Mohamed Negm and Nabil Mansi -- to testify before prosecution authorities in connection with alleged banking fraud and slander offences. Mansi, NDP secretary-general in the Delta governorate of Gharbiya, is accused of misusing the funds of the Gharbiya internal transport sector, of which he is chairman and executive director.
In the People's Assembly, Speaker Fathi Sorour received a request from Justice Minister Farouq Seif El-Nasr to drop the immunity of Fayez El-Tinikhi, an NDP MP for the Delta governorate of Beheira. El-Tinikhi is accused of failing to repay a loan of LE990,000 from the Faisal Islamic Bank.
Against this wave of alleged financial malpractices, MPs hailed a court verdict sentencing Ibrahim Shaladim, son of MP Salaheddin Shaladim, to six months in prison. In an earlier trial, Shaladim Jr was sentenced to four years in prison with hard labour for speeding that resulted in a fatal road accident. The 18-year-old, whose father is a prominent businessman and NDP secretary-general for Suez city, was convicted of the unintentional manslaughter of a man and his child. Shaladim Sr, however, managed to reach a reconciliation with the victim's family against the payment of LE1.2 million. The defendant's defence submitted to the court a reconciliation document and said that the victim's family agreed to drop the lawsuit against the defendant.
In their comments, MPs agreed that the court verdict will help improve the image of NDP deputies, ahead of parliamentary elections next summer. Last week, a Giza court cleared Omar Abu-Steit, a NDP deputy for Sohag, of charges related to hooliganism. Abu-Steit took MPs by surprise when he showed up at the Assembly on Saturday to hear a speech by President Hosni Mubarak.
Last Thursday, a Cairo Criminal Court began hearing the case against Mohamed Sadek Okasha, a NDP MP for Giza governorate, charged with issuing three worthless cheques for LE1 million and submitting false documents alleging that he was the proprietor of a LE35 million hotel in Giza. The court decided to postpone hearings until 12 December when it will listen to prosecution witnesses.
The Assembly got down to business on Monday, grappling with a host of controversial issues. Ayman Nour, a member of the Wafd party, announced that he is going to direct a parliamentary interpellation -- a question that must be answered -- to Ahmed El-Amawi, minister of Manpower, on the deterioration of conditions faced by Egyptian expatriate workers.
Nour charged the government with ignoring the recurring problems workers face in a number of Arab countries. "It is this irresponsible policy which led to the decline in the remittances of Egyptian workers and their loss of confidence in their government's ability to provide them with protection against ill-treatment in foreign countries," Nour said. He accused the foreign ministry of intentionally sacrificing the interests of Egyptian workers in Arab countries on the pretext that diplomatic relations with these countries must be given priority. Nour cited riots by Egyptian workers in Kuwait two weeks ago.
For his part, El-Amawi, addressing the Shura Council's Foreign and Arab Affairs and National Defence Committee, blamed the riots on the system known as El-Kafil [sponsor], used in hiring Egyptians to work in Kuwait. El-Amawi said that as many as 2,400 Egyptian workers, out of a total 220,000, were detained in the aftermath of the riots. But now, he added, only 19 remain in detention. He emphasised that these riots should not be exaggerated and concluded by announcing that joint ministerial committees, including representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs, defence, manpower and interior, will meet once a year with Egyptian expatriates in the Arab Gulf countries to determine their problems and help in finding solutions. He argued that many problems arise because Egyptians do not register their names with the relevant embassies.
