Last week's meeting of the People's Assembly hinted at a bad-tempered winter parliamentary session, writes Gamal Essam El-Din Before opening debates next Sunday, the People's Assembly listened to President Hosni Mubarak's keynote speech in which he called upon MPs to devote most of the new session to a long-awaited legislative programme. "If constitutional amendments were the hallmark of the outgoing parliamentary session, I hope new and important legislation will top the assembly's new session," said Mubarak. He emphasised that the legislative agenda should include a range of political and socio- economic laws. "A number of these need to be amended in the current session so they accord with earlier constitutional amendments while others are part of a new package of socio-economic reforms." New anti-terror legislation and laws eliminating the post of the socialist prosecutor-general and regulating the Council for Judicial Authorities would be up for discussion, said Mubarak, who added that legislation reducing real estate taxes, establishing economic courts to fast track business disputes and new urban planning regulations should be passed into law as quickly as possible. The assembly will also be presented with a package of regulations covering the construction of nuclear power stations, and Mubarak said he was urging the government to submit a new child protection law in addition to updating the regulations governing family courts. Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab, while ruling out the introduction of a new local administration law in current session, said the anti-terror and other laws would be the subject of dialogue with the opposition. The bulk of Mubarak's speech, however, addressed social issues, and he invited opposition parties and MPs in the People's Assembly and Shura Council to engage in a wide-ranging debate on the future of state subsidies. "The dialogue should take into account that social subsidies are an enormous burden on the state at a time when commodity prices, including oil, are skyrocketing," said Mubarak. While stressing that the commitment to safeguard the poor against the impact of market liberalisation remained as strong as ever, he told MPs that "the financial burden subsidies place on the state budget is too heavy to be ignored." During a meeting with Mubarak on 15 November, World Bank President Robert Zoellick welcomed the government's decision to phase out subsidies as a major step towards cutting budget deficit. Mubarak's speech was applauded by both majority and opposition MPs. The next day, the assembly was vexed by the announcement by Shahinaz El-Naggar, the 36- year-old NDP MP for the west Cairo district of Manial, that she was resigning. El-Naggar gave no reasons for her decision, though rumours quickly began to circulate that she was doing so at the request of her fourth husband, NDP business tycoon and chairman of the assembly's Budget Committee Ahmed Ezz. The assembly's gossip mongers say that Ezz's proposal to El-Naggar comprised both a generous dowry and the stipulation she resign from the assembly. "She fought a hard battle to win her Manial seat, furnishing an example of how women can join parliament. Her resignation should be withdrawn," said independent MP Mustafa Bakri. Parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour said El-Naggar came to his office last week and told him she wished to resign without giving any reasons. "We have to respect her wishes," Sorour told the MPs. Rumours about the Ezz-El-Naggar relationship exploded at a time Ezz is facing a hostile press campaign, having antagonised many members of both the assembly and the NDP. A number of opposition and independent newspapers have accused Ezz of exploiting his positions within the NDP and parliament -- he is a close associate of Gamal Mubarak -- to further his business interests and strengthen his monopoly of the lucrative local iron and steel market. Ezz is also thought to have been instrumental in thwarting NDP old guard stalwart Kamal El-Shazli's ambition to become the party's parliamentary spokesman. Ezz, who is the NDP's secretary for Organisational Affairs, insisted Abdel-Ahad Gamaleddin, a lawyer, retain his post as NDP's parliamentary spokesman. Attacks on Ezz within the assembly have been spearheaded by the 88-member Muslim Brotherhood bloc. They believe Ezz masterminded the marshalling of NDP MPs to deprive the Brotherhood of any committee posts and have long been trying to force a parliamentary enquiry into the sources of his wealth and the operation of his iron and steel empire. The biggest surprise of last week's, though, was the sudden showdown between parliamentary speaker Sorour and Brotherhood MPs. Sorour denounced seven Brotherhood MPs for travelling to Turkey without first obtaining the assembly's approval. "This is a gross violation of the assembly's regulations," said Sorour. The seven MPs had attended a seminar on the future status of the holy city of Jerusalem. Brotherhood MPs, in turn, accused Sorour of postponing committee elections in order to give NDP leaders time to agree their choice of chairmen and deputy chairmen. The committee elections were largely cosmetic with many outgoing chairmen retaining their posts. Ezz continues as chairman of the Budget and Plan Committee, business tycoon Mohamed Abul-Enein as chairman of the Industry and Energy Committee and construction magnate Tarek Talaat Mustafa as chairman of the Housing Committee. There were some minor changes. Abdel-Rahman Baraka, a banking tycoon, replaced NDP businessman Hani Sorour as deputy chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee. Sorour is facing trial on charges of supplying substandard medical equipment and blood bags to government hospitals. El-Husseini Abu Qamar, NDP MP for Port Said, replaced businessman Emad El-Galada as deputy chairman of the Youth Committee. El-Galada is currently serving a three-year sentence after being convicted of bribery.
