Newsreel

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Constitutional spat

OPPOSITION MPs have called for the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif to be declared unconstitutional for failing to meet the requirements of Article 133 of the constitution, reports Gamal Essam El-Din. Amended last March, Article 133 states that after forming a cabinet the prime minister must submit the government's programme to the People's Assembly within 60 days, or by the first parliamentary session should the assembly be in recess.

Left leaning independent MP Kamal Ahmed says that while the amended article attempts to reinforce parliament's supervisory powers over the government, "no programme has yet been submitted, despite the amendments being passed last March."

"I know the programme submission was intended to apply to new governments but what will happen if no new government is formed within the next five years? Does this mean that the government will not be obliged to submit a statement and seek the confidence of parliament," asks Ahmed.

Wafd Party leader Mahmoud Abaza agrees that Article 133 could cast doubts over the constitutionality of the Nazif government.

"The amended article stipulates that in order for the government to be constitutional it must meet two conditions," says Abaza. "First, it should be appointed by the president of the republic and, second, it should have the confidence of parliament."

While former minister of parliamentary affairs Kamal El-Shazli has urged the government to hurry up and present parliament with a new programme, Ahmed Ezz, NDP Secretary for Organisational Affairs, insists Article 133 cannot be applied retroactively. "The current government is constitutional and is not obliged to submit a programme to parliament in the current session," argues Ezz.

He is supported by Moufid Shehab, minister of state for legal and parliamentary affairs. "Had the Nazif government been formed after the 26 March amendments it would have been obliged to submit a programme," says Shehab, "but this is not the case."

Parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour has referred the issue to the assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee. "The issue must be examined before a decision over the constitutional status of the current government can be reached," he said.

Thanks a million

THE FRENCH-based World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) will provide Egypt with one million doses of Avian Influenza vaccines for poultry to fight the deadly H5N1 strain, Reem Leila reports. According to Hamid Samaha, head of the General Authority for Veterinary Services at the Agriculture Ministry, the OIE decided to send Egypt the vaccines to help fight the spread of bird flu in the country and to reduce the rate of bird flu infection among domestic birds. Samaha said that during the last three months the Veterinary Authority had inoculated over 90 million domestic birds, comprising 70 per cent of the total number of such fowl. He added that they will start the second phase of the national campaign as soon as the authority sends the vaccine in mid-December to inject the remaining 30 per cent.

Since its inception in May 2006, the OIE has provided Egypt with 14 million doses.

According to Samaha, the authority has stipulated certain regulations to provide poultry breeders with the H5N1 vaccine to protect their fowl. Every breeder will be given 500 bottles of vaccine. Poultry which exceed the set number will undergo medical tests to ensure their health. They will then be sent to stipulated farms for breeding, "In case there is no farm nearby, the poultry will be culled," Samaha said.

To date, 169 people worldwide have died from the H5N1 virus. In Egypt, human infections currently stand at 38; 15 have died from the virus.

Abdel-Rahman Shahin, official spokesman at the Ministry of Health and Population, said that ever since Egypt announced its first human death from bird flu, several precautionary measures had been adopted "since the government is always attempting to tighten up restrictions to prevent and limit the spread of Avian Flu virus."

Egypt is ranked third in the world with regard to Avian Flu cases and fifth in fatality cases. "This is an excellent rating because this means the virus is under full control. If it were not for the Health Ministry's strategy to combat the virus, more people could have been victims of the virus," Shahin said.

High tide

RISING ground water devastated six villages in Giza, reports Mohamed El-Sayed. The unprecedented rise of the River Nile this year apparently caused ground water to surface in many lowland villages located adjacent to the river, flooding half a dozen villages in Giza, bringing down dozens of houses and causing the evacuation of hundreds of families who moved to nearby villages. More than 1,500 feddans of agricultural land were flooded and crops were completely destroyed, according to press reports.

Residents of the villages were unable to remove water from their homes or the streets because the villages lack a drainage network. Some of the villagers took the roofs of their houses as shelter. The biggest school in Al-Shorafa village was shut down until the water was removed.

Residents of the afflicted areas submitted a complaint to the local authorities in Giza governorate and reported to the police the damages they sustained to file compensation cases against the government. However, the Ministry of Social Solidarity was reported to have refused to pay compensation for the damages, arguing that it only helps victims of earthquakes and natural disasters.

The residents also threatened to cut off the Helwan-Al-Saff highway in protest against what they described as the indifference of the local authorities to their plight.

Authorities sent trucks to draw water from the streets and the setting up of a drainage network system in the afflicted villages was urged by many.