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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Corrupt MPs booted out
IN AN EXTRA-ORDINARY session on Sunday, the People's Assembly decided to expel four National Democratic Party (NDP) deputies from parliament. Last month, the four, dubbed "the loan deputies" by the local press, were convicted by the Supreme State Security Court of misappropriating bank funds worth more than LE1 billion.Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour said the court verdicts completely destroyed the members' credibility and respectability. They can no longer function as legitimate members of parliament. He noted that the verdicts are final and cannot be contested. Consequently, Sorour explained, the Assembly is required in accordance with Article 96 of the Constitution to seek the parliamentary approval of a two-thirds majority to strip the four deputies of their membership.
The four are Tawfiq Abdu Ismail, a former minister of tourism, ex-chairman of the Commercial Bank of Daqahliya and MP for Dekerness in the Daqahliya governorate; Khaled Mahmoud, a businessman and MP for Rahmaniya in the Beheira governorate; Mahmoud Azzam, a real estate businessman and MP for El-Saff district in the Giza governorate; and Ibrahim Aglan, a businessman and MP for Edko district in the Beheira governorate. The first three were sentenced to 10 years in prison each with hard labour. The fourth was given a suspended sentence of one year in jail with hard labour.
The decision of the Assembly raised to six, the number of deputies who have lost their membership during the outgoing parliament. The two others were Sadeq Okasha, a businessman and MP for El-Saff district, who was convicted of forgery, and Yehia Shaalan, MP for Luxor city. The latter was forced to submit his resignation after he was found guilty of illegally selling Hajj [pilgrimage] entry visas for Saudi Arabia. All six are members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
