Opposition and independent MPs target the NDP's businessmen deputies on the first day of parliamentary debates, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Following the re-election of Fathi Sorour as speaker of the People's Assembly for the 18th time, the assembly must now select the heads of 19 parliamentary committees. Elections are due to be held today, and while it is a forgone conclusion that each of the committees will be chaired by a member of the National Democratic Party (NDP) exactly who these people will be was the focus of dissension during the NDP's ninth Congress, held between 3-6 November. NDP MPs have argued that the selection of committee chairmen should be more democratic. Mohamed Khalil Qiwita, an NDP MP, complains that key posts have been monoplised by wealthy businessmen, arguing that "if the NDP conducts internal elections over two months to inject new blood into its ranks then it should open up the selection process for parliamentary committees." Some NDP MPs object to the way the party's business tycoons have managed to dominate key assembly committees, forming a lobby at the expense of other NDP members and opposition MPs. Multi-millionaires Ahmed Ezz, chairman of the Budget Committee, Mohamed Abul-Enein, chairman of the Industry Committee, and Tareq Talaat Mustafa, chairman of the Housing Committee, have come in for particular criticism, with MPs arguing that Ezz should be prevented from combining his post as NDP Secretary for Organisational Affairs with chairing the Budget Committee. NDP MPs have also called for the sacking of Abdel-Ahad Gamaleddin, the party's spokesman in the outgoing session. "Abdel-Ahad's performance was weak. On many occasions he simply failed to respond to opposition attacks during the last two sessions," said Qiwita. Gamal Zahran, an independent MP and professor of economics and political science at Suez Canal University, believes the assembly's internal regulations should be amended so that businessmen are banned from chairing parliamentary committees. "Businessmen are keen to chair parliamentary committees as a way to promote their private business interests," says Zahran, who accuses Ezz of using his position within the NDP and the assembly to consolidate his dominance of the iron and steel market. The Muslim Brotherhood has announced that its MPs will not be competing in today's elections. "There is no point us standing in committee elections given the NDP's determination to monopolise all posts," says Hussein Ibrahim, the Brotherhood's media spokesman. In procedural sessions on 7 November Sobhi Saleh, the Brotherhood's candidate for speaker, failed to secure the support of any Brotherhood independent or opposition MPs. Sorour swept the poll, winning 332 out of a total of 420 votes. A similar fate met Ali Fath El-Bab, the Brotherhood's candidate for deputy speaker, who gained 96 votes against the NDP candidate Abdel-Aziz Mustafa's 308. In his re-election speech, Sorour urged deputies to respect the constitution and the assembly's internal regulations. He attacked MPs "who criticised the assembly during the summer recess" and cautioned them that they must not allow "the assembly to become a battleground for conflicting personal interests at the expense of its role as a forum for objective dialogue". Mahmoud Abaza, the leader of the liberal-oriented Wafd Party, urged Sorour to schedule enough time to allow for a thorough discussion of draft laws. "There must be plenty of time for legislative debate given the new session is about to discuss controversial legislation, including new anti-terror and local administration laws," he said. Following their failure in assembly internal legislations, the Muslim Brotherhood is determined to make its presence felt by tabling embarrassing interpolations to cabinet ministers. Farid Ismail, Brotherhood deputy for the Nile Delta governorate of Sharqiya, has accused Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin and Minister of Tourism Zohair Garana of "treason". Ismail claims Mohieldin and Garana approved the sale of large plots of land in Sinai, in the Al-Salihiya area of the Ismailia governorate and the Al-Tahrir district near Alexandria, to Israeli investors. "Lands in Taba, Sharm El-Sheikh, Al-Salihiya and Al-Tahrir were originally sold to Arab investors but later ended up in Israeli hands at a very cheap price," says Ismail. "This is a serious situation, and the two ministers who allowed it are guilty of treason." Ismail's accusations sparked a furious response in government circles. Government spokesman Magdi Radi denies that cabinet ministers approved the sale of land to Israeli tourist and agricultural investors, insisting "Ismail's accusations are entirely unfounded". Meanwhile Saad El-Husseini, Brotherhood MP for the Nile Delta governorate of Gharbiya, accused Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif of allocating large plots of land to NDP business tycoons, including steel magnate Ahmed Ezz, ceramics manufacturer Mohamed Abul-Enein and Alexandria investor Hisham Talaat Mustafa, for speculative real estate development. El-Husseini, himself a real estate investor, charges that some NDP businessmen then used the land they had obtained as collateral for hefty bank loans while others re-sold the land to Gulf investors at an enormous profit. Mustafa, who is also NDP Shura Council member for Alexandria governorate, is accused by Mustafa of obtaining 8,000 feddans ostensibly for the construction of low-cost housing units but now being used for a luxury development under the name Medinati. "He got the land for free to build housing units for limited-income young people and is instead constructing homes that will sell for LE3,500 a metre," says El-Husseini.
