A new law aimed at strengthening social solidarity was rammed through the People's Assembly just one day before it adjourned for summer recess, Gamal Essam El-Din reports On 21 June, just one day before it adjourned for summer recess, the People's Assembly -- Egypt's lower house of parliament -- approved a law aimed at providing the poorer classes with a new social safety net. In the words of Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Meselhi, "the law reflects a renewed deep government commitment to helping the poor classes and needy families mitigate the effects of privatisation and market economy policies and guarantee them a safe source of income." Addressing the People's Assembly on the main objectives of the law, Meselhi explained that it is the final in three steps introduced by the government in recent months to help the limited-income and poor brackets. "The first step," said Meselhi, "included raising salaries of government and public sector employees by 10 per cent as of the second half of this year." The second step, added Meselhi, included a new law aimed at raising pensions by 30 per cent for poor and average-income families. "The social solidarity law is the third step, seeking to offer poor classes that do not have access to regular pensions fixed or exceptional monthly financial assistance," said Meselhi, arguing that "in other words, it is a law for offering pensions for the pensionless." According to Meselhi, the poor classes targeted by the new legislation primarily include orphans, widows, the poor, handicapped children and physically disabled citizens. "Most of these classes do not have a secure source of income in the form of a monthly fixed salary or pension, or they are too physically disabled to earn a living," said Meselhi. Meselhi indicated that the law stipulates that a Social Solidarity Commission (SSC) be established in all governorates to examine which classes are entitled to a fixed monthly income or exceptional assistance. "These SSCs will take charge of conducting field research on poor families and individuals in terms of income, level of education, health condition, marital status, etc," said Meselhi. As for exceptional financial assistance, Meselhi indicated that, "this will be in the form of cash money to poor families and individuals to cover some emergency expenses." He added that, "these could cover expenses of education, child delivery and social calamities such as the sudden death of a family member." He also indicated that social solidarity assistance could also extend to cover funding productive or service-offering projects or help poor individuals and families get access to small banking loans or buy project machines. "Social solidarity grants are not just concerned [with offering] cash money to poor families and individuals, but [aim] also to rehabilitate them to join the job market," explained Meselhi. The law indicated that a social solidarity fund would be established for poor families and individuals. "The money of this fund will primarily come from the State Treasury and donations granted by rich and wealthy individuals and organisations," the law's explanatory note said, adding that "the Ministry of Social Solidarity will be required to develop a broad database, including lists of poor families and individuals all over Egypt, as an important step necessary to ensure correctly implementing the law and reaching the targeted classes." "This database must also be upgraded every six months and linked to the National Social Insurance Authority and the Civil Status Authority," said the note. The law imposes a penalty of six months in prison and a maximum fine of LE1,000 on individuals or families found guilty of unjustly obtaining a social solidarity pension or exceptional financial assistance. Although endorsed by the overwhelming majority of deputies of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), the law faced criticism from independent and opposition MPs. Georgette Qilini, an independent MP, complained that the law was submitted just a few hours before parliament adjourned for the summer recess. "We can never discuss the law adequately in such a very short and limited time," said Qilini, deploring that "it is very bad that laws come very late, so all deputies can do is just rubber-stamp these laws." Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab disclosed that President Hosni Mubarak compelled the government to submit the law to parliament before it adjourned on recess. "President Mubarak said this law is very necessary in order to complete the social solidarity initiatives taken by the government this year," said Shehab.
