The People's Assembly Ethics Committee has begun investigating two MPs on charges that they had slandered the assembly and the ruling NDP, reports Gamal Essam El-Din On 2 January the People's Assembly Ethics Committee announced it would investigate allegations made against independent MPs Gamal Zahran and Hamdi Hassan after 26 MPs belonging to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) submitted a memorandum accusing them of slandering the People's Assembly and tarnishing the image of the ruling party. Zeinab Radwan, chairwoman of the Ethics Committee and deputy speaker of the assembly, said the committee would take some time to reach a final decision on the memorandum. The 26 ruling NDP MPs charge that on the television programme "90 Minutes" Zahran and Hassan had claimed they had obtained bribes from the government and that the People's Assembly had turned a blind eye to the payments. The two MPs, the memorandum continued, had been conducting a hostile campaign against the NDP for more than two months. Radwan has asked Zahran and Hassan to submit their own memorandums explaining their actions. Zahran, an independent MP with leftist and nationalist leanings, says Ahmed Ezz, the business tycoon and NDP secretary for organisational affairs, is behind the complaint. "Ezz is doing his best to silence any opposition, particularly from independent MPs who criticise his business practices and the NDP's history of corruption," Zahran told parliamentary correspondents after meeting with Radwan. Hassan, who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, argues that his TV interview simply stressed the urgent need to combat political bribes and the misuse of public funds. "What I said about the NDP and the assembly was part of my job as an MP. All MPs, including opposition and independents, are constitutionally authorised to freely express their views about public issues with impunity." Hassan alleged that NDP spokesman Abdel-Ahad Gamaleddin had conceded in a TV interview that his party's MPs had obtained payments from the government in return for approving the state budget, several controversial laws and last year's constitutional amendments. The exchange of accusations first flared up two months ago when opposition and independent MPs said the government had made payments ranging from LE100,000 to LE250,000 to NDP members of the assembly. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab insisted that the money had been offered to all MPs, and was intended to fund small-scale projects in their constituencies. The row was reignited two weeks ago when some opposition and independent MPs claimed they had evidence that the payments, rather than funding constituency projects, had been treated as personal income and spent on, among other things, the payment of children's school fees and cosmetic surgery. Zahran subsequently requested parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour to refer the matter to the Central Auditing Agency (CAA). Zahran and Hassan also claim that in offering ruling party MPs money to spend in their districts the government had violated the constitution. "In so doing it discriminates between Egyptians on the grounds of political affiliation," said Zahran, who has provided the Ethics Committee with a list of the names of NDP MPs who allegedly received bribes from the government together with details of how the money was spent. Zahran has accused Ezz of trying to play the role of NDP strongman. "Ezz is trying his best to silence criticism of NDP senior officials, particularly when it comes to Gamal Mubarak," he says. He also argues that it is unconstitutional to attempt to prevent MPs from speaking their mind. "The logical conclusion of Ezz's position is that I would have the right to request that Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali be referred to the Ethics Committee on the grounds that he has described opposition attacks on the government's economic policies as whining." "It is perfectly legitimate for NDP MPs to obtain money from the government to spend on their districts," said Ezz in response to the attacks. "There is no shame in NDP MPs being eager to help poor citizens in their districts." Ezz adds that he had refused to endorse a request submitted by 250 NDP MPs asking for an investigation into how "an outlawed group [the Muslim Brotherhood] has been able to spend huge amounts of money on their districts and use it to recruit poor citizens into their ranks". "In my capacity as the NDP's secretary for organisational affairs I refused to endorse the request because I believe that parliament should not become a battleground for the exchange of accusations." In their memorandum NDP MPs expressed surprise that Zahran and Hassan have insisted on continuing the opposition campaign against the NDP. "In spite of Ezz's response and the assembly's decision not to refer the matter to the CAA, Zahran and Hassan have insisted on continuing their slanders of the NDP and the People's Assembly," read the memorandum. Meanwhile, the assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Monday began debating a request submitted by Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei asking that NDP MP Abdel-Azim Al-Hamzawi be stripped of parliamentary membership. Al-Hamzawi faces charges of unlawful killing. The committee is expected to give a final decision on Marei's request next Monday.
