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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 May 2000 Issue No. 480 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 May 2000 Issue No. 480
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Preparing for the poll
By Gamal Essam El-DinAhead of the November parliamentary elections, opposition parties have been demanding a number of political reforms. But their hopes were dashed when two government-sponsored amendments to the Political Rights and People's Assembly laws won the approval of parliament two weeks ago. The amendments fell short of the opposition's expectations.
Aware of the opposition's criticism and fears, President Hosni Mubarak was keen to send reassuring signals about the approaching elections. In a Labour Day speech he delivered last Thursday, Mubarak vowed again that "the state will take all possible and necessary measures to guarantee the integrity of the next elections."
Mubarak affirmed, however, that the amendment of the constitution, which has been urged by some opposition parties, is out of the question not only for the present, but also in the foreseeable future. "It is by no means an easy thing to amend the constitution. It is almost an impossible process," he said.
Mubarak upheld Article 169 of the constitution, which states that one half of parliament's seats be reserved for the representatives of workers and peasants. "I welcome the decision of the majority of deputies in the People's Assembly not to alter the present definitions of 'worker' and 'peasant.' This should guarantee stability, reinforce public rights and ensure true representation of workers and peasants in parliament," argued Mubarak.
Within the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), Mubarak's praise of the decision not to alter the definitions of "worker" and "peasant" was met with a sigh of relief. Many NDP deputies, especially those representing workers and peasants, had feared that they might be adversely affected by the amendment of the Assembly law, which cancelled the previous stipulation that MPs classified as fi'at (professionals), workers or peasants before 15 May 1971 cannot change their designations.
MP Zakaria Azmi, chief of the presidential staff, argued that the immediate application of the law would open the door for the positions of some NDP deputies to be contested on the grounds that they would no longer be eligible for the designation according to which they were elected. Although People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour and Justice Minister Farouk Seif El-Nasr responded that those fears were unfounded, it was Mubarak's praise for parliament for preserving the 1971 definitions of "worker" and "peasant" that reassured NDP deputies that their designations would not be shaken easily.
Discussing the elections at a news conference last week, Interior Minister Habib El-Adli said they would be held under full judicial supervision, with police simply protecting the balloting process. "The role of police forces will be to safeguard the principal and auxiliary polling stations, issue ballots and deliver the voting boxes to the supervising judicial committees," El-Adli said. He warned that police would strike "with an iron and merciless fist" against any acts of hooliganism.
El-Adli said that the illegal Muslim Brotherhood is not a political party. "I do not know of a party that carries such a name. Some members of this outlawed group, however, may like to contest elections as independents or run on the lists of some parties. In this case, we will not stand against them," he added.
Away from the election trail, the NDP was dealt two serious blows in one week when Yehia Shaalan, NDP deputy for Luxor City, was forced to resign and Fayez El-Tinikhi, NDP MP for Al-Beheira governorate, was stripped of his parliamentary immunity. Shaalan resigned after the PA's Ethics Committee found him guilty of breach of trust for making illegal profits by selling to his constituents eight entry visas to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of hajj (pilgrimage) for the hefty sum of LE32,000. El-Tinikhi was accused of issuing three bad cheques for the total amount of LE925,000. This brings to two the number of NDP deputies to lose their parliamentary membership while the number of NDP deputies stripped of their immunity is now 40.
Kamal El-Shazli, minister of state for parliamentary affairs, reacted by sacking Shaalan from NDP ranks. And Prime Minister Atef Ebeid followed by deciding on Sunday to cancel the allocation of eight hajj visas to each MP per year for free distribution among his constituents.
In another development, a recent meeting of the NDP's general secretariat recommended that the lists of NDP candidates for the next elections should include a larger number of Copts, young people and women.
