THE GENERAL Committee of the People's Assembly was obliged to meet on Monday to issue a clear-cut statement on the legal status of a large number of deputies in the light of appeals filed with the Court of Cassation, reports Gamal Essam El-Din The committee's statement came in response to a report in Sunday's independent Al-Masry Al-Yom. The story focussed on claims by independent MP Alaa Abdel-Moneim that the Court of Cassation had ordered the disqualification of 77 deputies and that the assembly's Legislative Committee had refused to discuss its rulings. Abdel-Moneim was quoted as saying the list of disqualified MP included 58 belonging to the ruling National Democratic Party, 15 to the Muslim Brotherhood, two to the Wafd Party and two independents. Abdel-Moneim further accused Amal Othman, chair of the Legislative Committee, of "turning a blind eye to the Court of Cassation's orders and refusing to hold an open discussion on them". The reason for this is that the court's list of disqualified MPs includes a number of NDP heavyweight deputies, including Othman herself. A lawyer by profession, Abdel-Moneim said, Othman's refusal to allow any discussion of the appeals had forced him to publish the list in Al-Masry Al-Yom and resign from the Legislative Committee. Al-Masry Al-Yom's report sparked a furious reaction, with NDP deputies demanding assembly speaker Fathi Sorour refer Abdel-Moneim to the Ethics Committee. Othman denies Abdel-Moneim's charges, insisting that evidence cited by Al-Masry Al-Yom about disqualified MPs was false. "The Court of Cassation has yet to give a final word about the legal status of 77 deputies," she said, arguing that "the job of the court is not to give orders but submit reports to the assembly about the result of its investigations." Sorour backed up Othman's argument. Article 93 of the constitution, he said, clearly states that the Court of Cassation is authorised only to investigate the validity of appeals contesting the legality of deputies' membership of the house. "It is the People's Assembly that is the only competent authority to decide upon how to pursue the court's investigations," he said. Sorour asked the assembly's General Committee to prepare a clear-cut statement on the issue. Published on Monday, the statement revealed that the court has so far submitted reports to the assembly on appeals contesting the legal status of 41 deputies. "The court recommended nine MPs be disqualified. It has not yet given a final word about the membership of the remaining 32 deputies," read the statement. The statement went on to accuse Abdel-Moneim of seeking to defame the image of the assembly. "It is deplorable that Abdel-Moneim has provided newspapers and satellite channels with false news about the assembly," it said, requesting parliament speaker Fathi Sorour to "warn Abdel-Moneim not to continue violating his duties". The committee also accused Abdel-Moneim of trying to extort money from NDP MPs in return for not publishing the Court of Cassation's reports about their membership.
