Follow today's political posturings, as Egypt's newly elected People's Assembly gets into gear, and the response of the street, as protesters organise marches to voice their demands to MPs 11:10 AnAhram Online correspondent reports that Central Security Forces areusing barbed wire toblock certain streets that lead to the parliament's offices and connect it to the heavily barricaded Ministry of Interior. In the nearby neighbourhood of Garden City – home to the US and British embassies, security personnel are asking pedestrians to show their IDs and state their destinations. 11:00The first session has just kicked off withthe oldest MP (in accordance with parliamentary regulations)–the Wafdist and constitutional law expert Mahmoud El-Sakka– calling for a moments of silenceas an expression of respect for the victims of theJanuary 25 Revolution. The81 years old El-Sakka continued to read off the SCAF decrees. 10:50Abou El-Ezz El-Hariri, a Socialist Popular Alliance Party MP and head of the Revolution Continues bloc in the Assembly, speaking to Egyptian television, stated that his first objective will be to fight corruption and that his first demand would be to open the files of the International Arab Bank, accused of illegal cash transfers out of the Arab world. 10:40Egypt's newly elected 508-member People's Assembly – the lower house of parliament – will begin procedural meetings at 11 o'clock. The Assembly will hold three meetings today. The first will begin with three decrees issued by de-facto leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and end with parliamentarians taking their constitutional oaths. The second and third meeting will see the election of a speaker and two deputies, respectively. Elections for the Assembly began in late November stretching over three staggered stages till mid January. As of this morning, there is still disagreement in the national press about the distribution of seats in the legislative body. Nevertheless it is clear that the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, does not have a simple majority. The People's Assembly, which many observers claim to be the cleanest and most democratic elections since the 1950s, will be responsible along with the Shura Council for appointing a constituent assembly that will draft Egypt's new constitution. Tantawi, chairman of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), is not expected to attend the meeting, as parliamentary protocol dictates that the chief executive only attend the joint session of parliament's two houses – the People's Assembly and the Shura Council – to deliver an opening speech. Interim Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri, however, will attend to fulfill his procedural duties of encouraging cooperation between parliament and government and to explain his efforts at improving economic conditions and implementing the demands of Egypt's revolutionaries.
