CAIRO: The two brothers, Talaat El Sadat and Anwar El Sadat, independent members of the People's Assembly and nephews of former President Anwar El Sadat are facing problems that threaten their MP status. Anwar El Sadat was legally declared bankrupt by Cairo s appeals court following a lawsuit filed against him for issuing unhonored checks. Bankruptcy is considered by law a shameful crime that bars the person charged with it from ever joining the PA, explained Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour, PA member and general secretary of Al-Wafd party. However, Abdel-Nour believes it is wrong for the law to consider bankruptcy a shameful crime. In other countries like the US, for example, bankruptcy is not a crime, it is part of our life experience. Most people experience it at some point in their lives, Abdel-Nour added. The PA has not yet reached final decision regarding Anwar El Sadat s case; the issue is still being discussed at the PA, said Abdel-Nour. Recently, another nephew of the former president, Talaat El Sadat was found guilty of the insulting the Egyptian military forces. In September 2006 he was sentenced by a military tribunal to one year in prison along and was made to pay a financial fine. The verdict came after Talaat was stripped of his parliamentary immunity due to media statements where he accused the military of conspiring against his uncle and planning his assassination in 1981. Talaat El Sadat, is currently serving the jail sentence. However the PA's ethics committee is yet to issue a ruling concerning his status as an MP. The committee is responsible for issuing verdicts in cases of MPs committing crimes. According to the offence involved, the committee can issue a warning, suspension for a certain period of time or dismissal from the PA. In Talaat El Sadat s case, the committee suspended him for 10 PA sessions. Abdel-Nour told The Daily Star Egypt that the ethics committee had originally intended to expel him, but when a large number of MPs disagreed, the committee decided on the lighter suspension punishment. Abdel-Nour believes that the sentence given to Talaat El Sadat is legally correct . Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, a PA member affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP) told The Daily Star Egypt that the PA ethics committee verdict is fair and objective .
