'Personal, not political'

The attempts of some citizens to commit suicide by setting themselves alight was a matter of intensive discussion in the People's Assembly, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

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The increasing number of Egyptians trying to commit suicide by setting themselves ablaze became a matter of heated discussion in the People's Assembly on Sunday.

Parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour said he had asked the People Assembly's Religious and Social Affairs Committee to hold a series of hearings to discuss the phenomenon. The request was made after Gamal Asaad Abdel-Malak, an appointed Coptic MP, argued that "Egyptians who had tried to commit suicide by setting themselves ablaze seem to be driven by the same problems and complaints that drove young Tunisians to revolt against their government."

"Tunisians who committed suicide by setting themselves ablaze were motivated by political and social reasons including rejection of the regime, unemployment and high prices," said Abdel-Malak. "In Egypt we were surprised to find that some tried to do the same. The reasons behind this must be investigated so as not to trigger a state of chaos."

Sorour disagreed with Asaad's assessment but nonetheless ordered an inquiry. "The two citizens who tried to set themselves ablaze in front of the building of the People's Assembly last week were driven by personal reasons," said the speaker. "It is wrong to cite just two examples of self-immolation and say this is a common phenomenon."

According to Sorour, the first citizen who tried to set himself alight was the owner of a restaurant who had tried to get a larger quota of subsidised flour than he was entitled.

"When officials rejected his demands he decided to come to the People's Assembly, inspired by Tunisians, to set himself ablaze. The second man's daughter had decided to elope with a young man of whom her father disapproved. Both their motives were personal. It is quite wrong to allege that they were making political demands."

Abdel-Malak then pointed out that "at least one citizen had already died after setting himself ablaze, a 27-year-old unemployed man from Alexandria, while two textile workers also poured fuel over themselves".

On Monday a 50-year-old taxi driver was saved from killing himself when tried to set himself ablaze in front of the building of the local city council in the Nile-Delta governorate of Gharbiya. Investigations showed that he was deeply in debt.

The press has reported more than 20 attempted acts of self-immolation in Egypt in the last two weeks, the majority motivated by a mix of personal, social and psychological reasons.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif agreed with Sorour that the attempted suicides were for personal rather than political reasons before stressing that his government was committed to lightening the burdens many ordinary Egyptians face.

"Unemployment," Nazif argued, "remains the government's primary concern. It is seeking to provide young people with more job opportunities and making steady progress towards President Hosni Mubarak's 2005 presidential election programme promise to create five million new jobs."

Meanwhile, the assembly's Religious and Social Affairs Committee on Sunday was asked to discuss a request submitted by MP Salwa Emara seeking to impose a ban on the use of loudspeakers to broadcast Friday sermons and prayers. Emara, an MP from the Nile-Delta governorate of Gharbiya and the sister of Menoufiya Governor Sami Emara, said "some preachers exploit the Friday sermon to launch attacks against Christians, thus fuelling sectarian tension."

Emara's argument was rejected by Fouad Abdel-Azim, secretary of the ministry of religious endowments. "Loudspeakers are necessary as long as Muslims pray in the street because there are too few mosques," he said. "They need to be able to hear the imam. The broadcast of Friday prayers has become a hallmark of the Islamic nation and will continue as long as this nation exists."

Emara responded by asking if it was acceptable "to use loudspeakers on other days to direct insults against other religions and use harsh language and impolite words?"

The Ministry of Waqf, said Abdel-Aziz, employs 50,000 imams "most of whom enjoy a high level of culture, good manners and polite language".

"There could be one or two exceptional cases and we are ready to address them but we should not generalise and exaggerate. Islam prohibits imams from using Friday sermons to launch verbal attacks against Christians and Jews."