Gamal Essam El-Din looks at draft laws submitted by three independent MPs aimed at fighting corruption in high places The recent spate of high-profile corruption scandals, combined with a rise in MP accusations against cabinet ministers, has prompted three MPs to submit draft laws to the People's Assembly aimed at clamping down on government corruption. The current law regulating legal proceedings against cabinet ministers suspected of illegal activity dates back to the 1958-1961 Egypt-Syria union. Although previous legislative attempts to change the law have gone nowhere, the attention being given to the three bills by both Parliamentary Speaker Fathi Sorour and Prime Minister Atef Ebeid have generated optimism in the assembly that things might be different this time. Sorour wholeheartedly welcomed the three bills, giving the assembly's complaints and proposals committee instructions to examine them as soon as possible. Ebeid asked Justice Minister Farouk Seif El-Nasr to attend the committee's discussions and assure MPs that the government is serious about combating high-profile corruption. The authors of the three bills -- independent MPs Kamal Ahmed, Ayman Nour and Abdel-Moneim El-Oleimi -- agree that bringing corrupt ministers to justice is a basic component of true democracy. "The rule of law, a cornerstone of true democracy, can never be attained without cabinet ministers being on equal footing with ordinary citizens when it comes to implementing justice," El- Oleimi said. Nour said the 1958 law "has been paralysed for more than 45 years, with the public wrongly believing that cabinet ministers are immune against justice so long as they are in office." In 2002 alone, as many as 48 high-ranking officials -- including former cabinet ministers, provincial governors and MPs -- were convicted of influence peddling, profiteering and embezzlement. As a result, "the public wonders why corruption charges only hover over cabinet ministers when they leave office, rather than while they are still in office," Nour said. At the same time, it is clear that other countries have no problem investigating high- ranking officials, and even presidents and prime ministers, while they are still in office. According to Nour, the lack of attention given to fighting high-profile corruption was a major reason why Transparency International -- a German-based organisation tracking corruption worldwide -- ranked Egypt a dismal 63 out of almost 120 countries. At the 23 February complaints and proposals committee meeting, Seif El-Nasr told MPs that the "government is committed to battling all forms of corruption." He said the existing law (no.79/1958), which was passed to fight ministerial corruption in both Egypt and Syria during their three-year union, is still applicable in Egypt. "This law was abrogated by Syria, but it is still valid in Egypt," Seif El-Nasr said. He promised, however, that government legal experts would examine the three new bills in a month's time, and provide MPs with their opinion. "I promise that the three bills will not be left to freeze in the government's desk drawer," Seif El-Nasr said. According to Ahmed, the existing law is anti-constitutional. While the constitution authorises the president as well as the People's Assembly to initiate the necessary procedures for bringing a cabinet minister to trial, the Egypt-Syria law calls for the establishment of a mixed Egyptian-Syrian court, "which has been impossible since the break-up of the United Arab Republic in 1961," Ahmed said. "It is unacceptable that the Constitution would rely on a suspended law that is also impossible to enforce. Remaining silent on this matter is a major sham, as well as an insult to the Egyptian people." The three bills all confirm that the president and the People's Assembly must be authorised to bring a minister to trial for crimes committed while serving in his or her post. The draft laws also stipulate that at least one-fifth of the assembly must agree on a proposal to begin impeachment proceedings against a minister. "No verdict or indictment shall be issued except by a two-thirds majority of the assembly's members," the draft further reads. Nour's bill also states that special courts be formed for putting ministers on trial. A 12-member panel -- featuring six MPs and six judges from the Court of Cassation (Egypt's highest judicial court) -- would preside over the courts. Other features of Nour's bill include probhibit ministers from staying in their posts while their case is being decided, and that the prime minister is not exempt. The three bills agree on the grounds for impeaching a minister; these include manipulating the prices of goods to personal advantage, using their position to acquire personal privileges, violating laws to the detriment of the state's finances; and intervening in general elections and national referendums by issuing illegal instructions to their subordinates. Penalties stipulated by the three bills range from hefty LE100,000-LE1 million fines, depending on the crime, to dismissal from the cabinet, life imprisonment, and the death penalty (for grand treason). A minister who is proven guilty will also be stripped of his political rights forever, including his membership in the People's Assembly, if applicable. According to Ahmed, penalties for guilty ministers must be both criminal and political "because the minister's responsibilities are primarily political". Ahmed said a change in the law was overdue since "in the last few years we have been taken aback by an unexpected wave of well- documented accusations swirling over cabinet ministers, provincial governors, ministers' deputies and MPs."
