Although parliament's Wednesday meeting was convened to discuss problems facing employees of the Land Reclamation Company, the Maasara Telephone Equipment Company and the Tanta Flax Company, ministers responsible for these companies' respective sectors failed to attend the session or showed up late. MP Zakaria Azmy blasted Manpower Minister Aisha Abdel Hady for being late to a meeting that she herself had called for. "Parliament isn't doing its job properly," he said. House Speaker Fathi Sourour insisted on carrying on with the meeting in spite of the absences. "We will not postpone the discussion just because the government isn't represented at the moment," he said. The ministers of manpower, communications, investment, irrigation and military production all finally showed up to the meeting one hour late. Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohi Eddin warned participants about giving in to workers' demands. "It would harm the economy if we did so," he said, calling for the nationalization of companies that incurred losses. "You can't punish the government by making it pick up these losses," Azmy replied. "It's the thieves that are running these firms that should be penalized." Translated from the Arabic Edition.
