The People's Assembly, Egypt's lower house of parliament, ended its 2007/2008 round by passing a number of controversial laws, heralding accusations by the opposition that the ruling National Democratic Party has rushed these laws to exclude them from the process. Passed during the months of May and June 2008, the amendments to the child, traffic, anti-monopoly and anti-smoking laws drew mixed reactions from the public. Meanwhile, the opposition criticized the process, saying that they weren't given the draft laws ahead of the PA discussions to study thoroughly. Child law After months-long heated debates, the PA approved on June 7 amendments to Child Law 12/1996, which aims to extend the legal protection of children. The draft law, prepared by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), was first approved by President Hosni Mubarak on March 4 before it was presented to the PA. More than 60 amendments were suggested to the draft law at the PA. One of the most welcome articles was the one criminalizing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), stipulating a fine of LE 1,000-5,000 or a prison sentence of between three months to two years for anyone found guilty of conducting a FGM procedure. PA speaker Fathi Sorour decided that Article 7, which proposes raising the minimum age of marriage to 18, will be moved from the child law to the family law. Controversy surrounded the amendments giving women the right to issue birth certificates to their children even if the father is not present and those criminalizing beating children. The child law in general was criticized by the Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc for "following a western agenda which contradicts our traditions, our culture and our religion. Meanwhile, the Azhar-affiliated Islamic Research Council had approved the draft law vouching that it complies with Sharia. Traffic law The most talked about law this year is the traffic law, in which violators are subject to high fines and even jail terms. "The amendments have been made to modify the law and make it applicable in contemporary Egypt, said Ezzat Badawy, deputy head of the transportation and telecommunications committee at the PA. "The law was set in 1973 which was more than 30 years ago, it can't be applied in 2008, he added. Under the new regulations, those caught double parking will have their driver's licenses confiscated. Those not wearing a seatbelt or talking on a mobile phone while driving face a LE 300, while driving in the wrong direction on a one-way street could cost culprits up to LE 3,000. Anyone suspected of "acts of public indecency in a car may be sentenced to a six-month jail term. Critics said that traffic police are the only ones benefiting from this law, raising the amount of bribes they usually take from drivers. Some allege that the private sector is another beneficiary; the requirement for all cars to have a first aid kit and a reflective warning triangle was prosperous to their manufactures as the price of triangles went up from LE 10 to nearly LE 75 after the law was passed in June. The new law also prohibits the renewal of taxi licenses and other passenger transportation vehicles that were manufactured more than 20 years ago, with a grace period of three years for their owners to replace them. The amendments also ban the use of truck trailers, the importing or manufacturing of trailers, with a grace period of four years for their owners to replace them with other means of cargo transportation. The opposition said such law ignores the financial situation of taxi drivers, whose vehicles represent their sole source of income, and that of truck drivers, who would lose around LE 120,000, which is the approximate cost of each trailer. Anti-monopoly law The amended anti-monopoly law of 2008 penalizes monopolistic business practices with a fine ranging between LE 100 million and LE 300 million. The law was proposed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in cooperation with the Egyptian Competition Authority recommended the monetary penalty for monopolistic practices be increased to either 10 or 15 percent of the company's profits. The parliament vetoed the proposal but approved a maximum penalty of LE 300 million, up from LE 10 million. At the time, Mona Yassine, chairperson of the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA), told Daily News Egypt that "passing the law with a fixed penalty of LE 300 million will benefit companies as it is not such a big figure compared to the profits these companies make. Rumors and speculations characterized the discussions and passing of this law. Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid was rumored to have submitted his resignation when he didn't attend parliamentary sessions debating amendments to the law. Discussions then swirled around Ahmed Ezz, NDP MP and steel mogul, and the degree of his influence at the PA. Ezz introduced two amendments to the law which was hastily approved by the PA: the first limited the fines and the second changed a leniency clause introduced by Rachid, which exonerates the first to report monopolistic practices from all charges and fines, to a "partial exoneration that should be decided by the court. This led opposition and several NDP members to question who really runs parliament. Anti-smoking law The new tobacco law approved by the PA last June requires cigarettes manufacturers to place a detailed health warning covering 50 percent of the pack on both sides. In addition to warning labels, cigarette packs now feature pictures explaining the side effects of smoking: a dying man in an oxygen mask, and a limp cigarette in reference to impotence, among others. In addition, all forms of tobacco advertising were prohibited, and a 10 percent increase was added to the price of cigarettes. The law also bans smoking in health and educational institutions, youth centers, legislative associations and all governmental authorities and clubs. The organization in which the violation takes place is to pay a fine between LE 1,000 and LE 50,000 while the person who is caught smoking will be fined between LE 50 to LE 100. Instead of deterring smokers, the new set of warning pictures printed on cigarette packs drove up the sales of metal cigarette boxes, Ibrahim El Embaby, head of the Tobacco Industry Division of the Industries Union, told local press in August. The law was further proven ineffective when a study by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in October revealed that the notorious picture of a hospital patient that was recently placed on all cigarette packs has not affected the number of smokers, nor cigarette sales in Egypt. "For the manufacturers, pictures and warning labels on packs are nothing but a routine procedure and will not make their consumer quit smoking because it's the ingredients of the cigarettes, like nicotine, which are addictive, said Mahmoud Aoshb, a economics expert at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "The Ministry of Health has to step in with intensive awareness campaigns in order to get Egyptians to quit smoking, he added. According to a report released by the health committee at the PA, Egyptians smoke 19 billion cigarettes a year, spending LE 3 billion annually, and smokers in Egypt increase by 6 to 9 percent every year as compared to 1 percent in the West.
