CAIRO: Speaker of the People's Assembly (PA) Fathi Sorour said Wednesday he did know whether parliament will be dissolved early as speculation continues to mount that the decision will come soon. Sorour said, in an interview with state-run Al-Musawer magazine, that he was unaware of any decision to dissolve the PA and that conditions may or may not be conducive for its dissolution. "Preparing for surprises is a normal thing for any political party, especially as the constitution gives the head of state the right to dissolve the assembly without a referendum, Sorour said. "So it is natural that there is speculation about it. "What is not natural is for some to say it will happen within days, he added. Local reports have been stating that a presidential decree would be issued to dissolve the PA in a matter of days due to pressure from the policies committee of the National Democratic Party (NDP) which is headed by Gamal Mubarak to facilitate his ascension to power. Al-Dostour had also previously claimed that NDP Secretary of Organization Ahmed Ezz is insisting that seven current opposition and independent MPs not be allowed to run for reelection. One of the seven MPs is Karama party leader Saad Aboud, who told Daily News Egypt in response to the allegation that Ezz wanted him removed, "They forge people's will and they have the power to do that, but any such attempts will not go unchallenged. The MPs are Mustapha Bakry, Talaat Al Sadat, Gamal Zahran, Hamdein Sabahay, Alaa Abdel-Moneim and head of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc Hussein Ibrahim. Zahran told Al-Dostour Wednesday, "If this is true then it means the government intends to rig the next elections. The local press reports positing the idea of dissolving the PA have iterated that the NDP would take advantage of recently proposed amendments to the PA law to hold elections earlier than scheduled. This was allegedly to rubber stamp the nomination of President Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal, as the senior Mubarak would step down before the next presidential election in 2011.
