The People's Assembly had a heated session yesterday during the discussion of Egypt's deteriorating role in the region and the gas exports to Israel, which were interpellations thwarted by the NDP deputies. Dr. Mufid Shehab, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, said the interpellations were meaningless. However, Council Speaker Dr. Fathi Sorour told him the government must answer to the interpellations as long as the council has agreed on them in principle, which the opposition deputies applauded to. Dr. Sorour also warned NDP deputy Ibrahim Abu Shadi of dismissing him because he did not want to remain seated. When Muslim Brotherhood (MB) Hamdi Hassan said: “I am ashamed of Egypt's policies toward the Palestinian cause,” the NDP deputies demanded to remove this phrase from the minutes. On another note, Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi attributed the shortage of butane gas cylinders to the rise in marriage rates among the Egyptians, which leads to high consumption.
