CAIRO: Members of the People's Assembly and legal specialist leaders expressed their anger and frustration at the absence of Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marei or any of his assistants at the first hearing session before the legislative committee Wednesday. The committee, assigned to investigate the demands of the legal specialists regarding new ministerial decisions and to present its report to parliament, listened to Mohamed Daher Hussien, head of the legal specialists club. Marei was supposed to present the ministry's point of view. PA Speaker Fathi Sorour criticized Marei s absence. I would have preferred it if the ministry had come and listened to the complaints of its specialists, but it should know that we, the parliament, have the power to monitor them through our constitutional authorities, Sorour said. Those who respect the constitution respect themselves; the parliament is one of the state s institutions and works within the constitution, which ministers swore to abide by, he added. Hussein said that Wednesday was a historical day for legal specialists because PA speaker, MPs and leading legislation experts said that the new ministerial decisions were illegal. "They also expressed their understanding of the reasons why specialists organized their sit-in, Hussein told Daily News Egypt. Hussein said he explained the specialists demands in front of more than 100 MPs including major officials at the National Democratic Party (NDP) and had long discussions with Sorour, who backed the specialists. Sorour said that holding the sit-in for that long could have serious consequences and could have been used as an excuse for some to mess with the country s security. Specialists staged a 60-day sit-in demanding the cancellation of periodic book number eight which allows them to examine case files only inside the courtroom. They were also calling for an amendment to Law 96/1952 as well as better pay and work conditions. As protests escalated, the legal specialists demanded the cancellation of obligatory appointments at court rooms and equality with employees at the administrative prosecution and state judicial authority. The sit-in was suspended after PA speaker Fathi Sorour pledged to table the new specialists' law at parliament in November and assigned the legislative committee to investigate the specialists' demands. Sorour divided specialists demands into ones related to the implementation of the law that go under the authority of the legislative committee; and financial demands that go under the authority of the workforce committee. The absence of the ministry is a big question mark because they could have solved the problem if they had the will to do so and we would have thanked them and committed ourselves to their decisions, Hussein said. We aren t against the ministry, we are against the decisions that will hinder our work and affect their financial conditions, he added. A new session is scheduled after Eid El Fitr to discuss the committee s report before presenting it to the members of parliament. Ministry officials are expected to attend. We are optimistic that the issue will be resolved soon, Hussein said.
