Sources at the Central Auditing Agency (CAA) said official bodies are pressuring CAA to alleviate its chairman Gawdat el-Malt's report to Parliament on the performance of the government and prune any strong remarks that may cause embarrassment to the regime, as has happened in the previous years. There were signs of a crisis between CAA and the National Democratic Party (NDP) when Ahmed Ezz, the NDP Organization Secretary, attacked CAA during the Parliament's Plan and Budget Committee meeting three days. Sources reported that a state of anger prevailed among CAA officials for Ezz's vilification of their economic expertise. They said CAA has more than a thousand employees with doctorate and master's degrees. The sources said Ezz was wrong when he said the bylaws of CAA date back to the socialist era, as they were put down in 1988. An official source at CAA who requested anonymity said that different official bodies pressure CAA not to focus on issues of corruption and abuse of public funds in El-Malt's report that he would present to Parliament in a few days. The sources criticized Ezz for not recognizing the LE 28 billion outstanding tax arrears of the private sector that he belongs to though the Tax Department said the same. They also said the legislative body that criticizes CAA must take after the President of the Republic, who preserves the country from corruption, and not embarrass him.
