Parliament's religious affairs committee on Saturday urged the government to meet demands by Egypt's preachers and mosque imams for a professional syndicate, official immunity similar to that enjoyed by parliamentarians and public prosecutors, and general employment reform. Committee head Ahmed Omar Hashem presented a proposal for employment reform to parliament for a second time after Ahmed Ezz, head of the assembly's planning and budget committee, rejected it--even though assembly members had earlier agreed to endorse the proposal. According to Hashem, MPs "will fight" to have the proposed reforms included in next year's state budget. Hashem said he had agreed to the notion of granting preachers immunity, provided that certain controls be put in place to regulate the issue. Hashem also said he had agreed to the formation of a professional syndicate for preachers and imams. According to Sayyid Askar, MP for the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement, preachers and imams have the right to be granted immunity. MP Yehia el-Messiry, meanwhile, joked that preachers were forced to discuss political issues in the afterlife, since discussion of these issues in this world was banned by security bodies. Ali Laban, another MP, called on the government to keep its hands off money belonging to the Ministry of Endowments, so that the latter could adequately meet the demands of the country's preachers and imams. Deputy Endowments Minister Shawqi Abdel Latif said that the Ministry of Finance represented the chief impediment to sought after employment reforms, denying that his ministry had imposed any restrictions on the contents of preachers' Friday sermons. Abdel Latif went on to point out that state security agencies did not have the right to interfere with the content of sermons. Abdel Latif also promised to look into the issue raised by el-Messiry, namely that concerning the recent detention of 21 imams. Deputy Finance Minister Mohamed Qutb, for his part, said his ministry was examining proposed employment reforms in coordination with the Endowments Ministry with a view to determining the financial resources required for their implementation. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
