Open season on Ebeid government
Prime Minister Atef Ebeid's government had one of its toughest weeks -- both in parliament and in the press. Gamal Essam El-Din reports
It was a hard week for Prime Minister Atef Ebeid. The parliamentary opposition, emboldened by public displeasure at a deep economic slump and a record rise in food prices, challenged him as never before. The Shura Council -- an upper house with no legislative powers -- also issued a critical report on the prime minister and his cabinet. Even the pro-government press -- in the form of Samir Ragab, editor-in-chief of Al- Gomhouria -- sniped at Ebeid.
In the People's Assembly, MPs directed 42 embarrassing interpellations (questions that must be answered) at Ebeid and his cabinet, 26 of which were directed specifically at Ebeid.
The interpellations raise all kind of issues: soaring food prices; muddled privatisation; monopolistic practices in the steel and mobile phone sectors; imports of substandard food; rigged elections; constitutional irregularities; ill- treatment in prisons; corruption in the agricultural sector; and the increasing number of citizens living under the poverty line.
On 10 January, Ebeid answered three interpellations submitted by independent Ayman Nour, leftist El-Badri Farghali, and Wafdist Mohamed Dawoud.
Nour alleged that most of Ebeid's statements during his four and a half years in office have lacked transparency and credibility. He cited examples of Ebeid's statements about fighting unemployment, slashing domestic debts and "a determination not to devalue the pound". These types of rosy predictions that have not come true have "deepened the public's distrust of the government and its policies", Nour said.
Ebeid's answer -- including the sound bite that, "under his government, nobody in Egypt sleeps without eating dinner" -- drew criticism from the press. One paper wrote that, "thousands in Egypt now sleep without having dinner because of the rise in food prices which was caused by the floatation of the pound." Even El-Gomhouria's Samir Ragab described, "the interpellations directed by the opposition against Ebeid and his government [as] very realistic and logical."
Ebeid was also criticised at a 17 January public demonstration organised by the leftist Tagammu' Party, where protesters held signs calling on President Hosni Mubarak to dismiss Ebeid or force him to resign. The Tagammu' demonstration -- which had the Interior Ministry's approval -- was the second in less than a month.
At the Shura Council, meanwhile, a 208-page report blaming Ebeid's government for the exacerbation of economic problems, the proliferation of monopolistic practices and fuzzy banking policies, was released. "There is no doubt that the government lacks teamwork and there is a wide gap between its promises and performance," the report said. Leading NDP figures -- who were present during the debates -- were unusually reluctant to defend Ebeid and his government.
Back at the assembly, 16 of Ebeid's 30 cabinet ministers will also be facing interpellations. Five are directed at Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali, who, parliamentary observers said, has become an easier target of criticism since he was stripped of his position as NDP secretary-general in September 2002. The arrest of several government officials who were close to Wali has further undermined his standing.
Independent Adel Eid's interpellation took Wali to task for the country's chronic wheat production deficit. "Over Wali's 21 years as agriculture minister, Egypt's wheat self- sufficiency fell from 86 to 56 per cent. Wali's agricultural policies were deliberately aimed at cultivating fruit and vegetable crops at the expense of wheat. As a result, Egypt is now spending $1.5 billion a year to import 7.5 million tonnes of wheat," Eid said. The MP said wheat should have been considered a strategic "national security" crop, the self-sufficiency in which should have been a primary state concern. The anti-Wali accusations also charge his ministry with dumping huge quantities of contaminated meat from India and the United States onto the local food market.
Responding to a barrage of similar criticism in the Shura Council two weeks ago, Wali blamed the wheat deficit on the population explosion. Wali also said his "efforts have provided Egyptian farmers with their happiest days. Cultivated land rose from 6.3 million to eight million feddans, while farmers' incomes have doubled as a result of increased exporting to neighbouring countries."
Housing Minister Ibrahim Suleiman, meanwhile, was the target of charges by MP Farghali, as well as Kamal Ahmed, an independent with Nasserist sympathies, who said Suleiman awarded contracts to private engineering consultancy firms with whom he has close ties. According to Farghali, Suleiman's brother-in-law Diaa El- Mouniri's firm -- the EnviroCivic Consultancies -- has been monopolising the implementation of the Housing Ministry's construction projects for years -- to the tune of LE8 billion.
In general, leftists seem to be the government's most vociferous detractors. Abul-Ezz El- Hariri, a leftist firebrand, submitted an interpellation about the government's lack of clear- cut policies on fighting monopolies. El-Hariri's interpellation deals with the sale of Alexandria Iron and Steel Company (AISC) to the group owned by Ahmed Ezz, an NDP business tycoon and chairman of parliament's budget and planning committee. El-Hariri blames the government for its tardiness in forging an anti-trust law aimed at fighting monopolies. According to El- Hariri, Ezz's purchase of AISC has enabled him to monopolise 65 per cent of the iron and steel market, and manipulate its prices.
At a 14 January meeting between President Hosni Mubarak and Ebeid -- which inspired rumours that Ebeid's government was about to be dismissed -- Mubarak directed Ebeid to submit the much-delayed anti-trust bill to the People's Assembly during its current session. According to Ebeid, Mubarak also asked him to swiftly present the Assembly with important bills dealing with investment incentives, small-scale enterprises and the family court.
