Is the Nazif government cozying up to the rich at the expense of the poor? Some MPs think so, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Parliament chose the first day of 2005 to begin discussions on the 64 interpellations (questions that must be answered by officials) that have been submitted by MPs regarding the performance of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's government thus far. The inquiries cover issues ranging from corruption at the ministries of agriculture and housing, to rampant human rights abuses in prisons, to the dramatic rise in the prices of basic services and foodstuffs. Nineteen opposition and independent MPs submitted most of the interpellations. The government's detractors insist that Nazif and his cabinet have been pursuing policies aimed at securing the interests of a handful of wealthy businessmen from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), at the expense of the majority of Egyptians. The fireworks began when the chairman of the newly-created Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, MP Ayman Nour, and other opposition and independent MPs accused parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour of trying to shield Nazif and his cabinet ministers from the most serious criticism on the table. Leftist MPs El-Badri Farghali and Kamal Ahmed claimed that the order of interpellations was re-arranged to shield Housing Minister Ibrahim Suleiman from accusations of corruption. Farghali said that although his interpellation was a top priority "for public opinion, it had been relegated on the list to number 51". In the end, the assembly decided to first deal with five interpellations on the dramatic rise in the prices of services and foodstuffs. Sorour said the issue was at the forefront of public opinion and must thus "get utmost priority". As it turned out, it was another of Farghali's interpellations that ended up first on the floor. Farghali accused the government of toeing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and US line when it came to economic policies. "By freeing prices and phasing out subsidies, these IMF-oriented policies give the private sector and rich businessmen an upper hand in economic decision-making and development efforts," he said. Farghali also blamed the Nazif government for raising energy prices, which led to an automatic rise in the prices of basic services and foodstuffs, and a subsequent "crunch in the vast majority of Egyptians' purchasing power". According to Farghali, "the government's efforts to reduce prices proved futile because all the means of production by which prices could be controlled were privatised." A similar interpellation by Wafdist MP Mohamed Abdel-Alim blamed the widespread poverty on rampant corruption in government and ruling party circles. "The result," said Abdel- Alim "is that two million citizens now live around tombs and cemeteries, while around 48 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line." Abdel-Alim accused Nazif's government of turning a blind eye to the corruption of businessmen who peddled their influence with the ruling party into monopolies of the production and distribution of strategic goods, in order to secure astronomical profits. Al-Ghad's Nour was the third MP to accuse the government of aggravating the poverty crisis. He said the policies of the governments of both Nazif and his predecessor Atef Ebeid had forced more than 30 million Egyptians to live below the poverty line, on incomes of less than $2 per day. "The cash subsidies that the government allegedly allocates to the poor are not only just a drop in the ocean," he said, "but come in the form of low-quality goods and services." To illustrate his point, Nour theatrically produced two loaves of subsidised bread, and challenged both Nazif and Supply Minister Hassan Khedr to eat them. "I challenge you to eat one of these loaves," Nour said, "and if you are not able to do so, you will have to submit your resignations." Khedr chose to ignore the challenge, arguing instead that the bread brought in by Nour was not representative of the high quality bread produced by most government-subsidised bakeries. The government was subsidising bread production to the tune of LE7.8 billion a year, Khedr said. "This amount is enough to ensure that 270 million loaves of subsidised bread per day are available and affordable for poor citizens," he said. The supply minister also said Nazif's government was determined to cut Egypt's wheat imports in half over the next few years. Because "Egypt's wheat consumption is now estimated at 12.8 million tonnes per year," Khedr said, "with half of it imported from abroad, the government has decided to increase the amount of cultivated wheat by 100,000 feddans in order to raise this strategic crop's self-sufficiency by at least 25 per cent." Nazif, who was present but did not speak, had brought in not only Khedr, but also the ministers of finance and housing to defend his government's policies. Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali said that while the government's policy did indeed involve opening up to the outside world in order to "raise the national economy's competitiveness, contain foreign inflationary pressures and become more resilient in the face of external shocks," it was also committed, at the same time, "to protecting the poor against the vagaries of liberalisation and open-door policies". Ghali said subsidies had actually increased over the past few years. "Right now, they are estimated at LE100 billion annually, or around 20 per cent of GDP." The minister also said the government was actively pursuing consumer-friendly laws like the anti-trust law aimed at protecting the poor from abrupt price hikes. Meanwhile, Ghali said, attempts were also being made to boost most citizens' purchasing power. Salaries of 5.5 million government employees were set to climb to LE42.5 billion (a 67 per cent increase over the last five years), thus accounting for around 30 per cent of the 2004/2005 budget. Housing Minister Ibrahim Suleiman also joined the fray, indicating that potable water and sanitary drainage facilities received more than LE65 billion in state funding over the past few years. According to Suleiman, the recent hike in water rates had actually been postponed since 1996. "The present price of water, at a mere 23 piastres per litre, is highly subsidised, since the real cost is 95 piastres," Suleiman said. He also dismissed any allegations that potable water facilities would be privatised in the near future.
