Cairo - MP Suzy Adly Nashed, a member of Egyptian Parliament's Legislative Committee, criticized the government's decision to receive a $12-billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of the biggest loans ever received by Egypt in its history, without the consent or approval of Parliament, which is against the Constitution. "Article 127 of the Constitution stipulates that the government may not borrow or procure funding or be linked to a project that is not listed in the official state budget until it has received Parliament's approval,"Nashid said during a TV interview on Tuesday evening. According to her, the loan agreement is also not in line with Article 151 of the Egyptian Constitution that notes that "the state's foreign agreements can go into effect only after being approved by parliament and as long as these agreements do not lead Egypt to ceding part of its territory to another country." Nashid emphasized that "the IMF agreement being entered into force as the first tranche of the loan was received, is a "violation of the constitution," pointing out to the government's complete disregard to the Parliament's role that was clearly manifested in the implementation of the IMF loan without the Parliament's review and consent."
