CAIRO: The emergency session of the People's Assembly (PA) Thursday convened to discuss the "Port Said massacre" was slammed by political analysts deeming it a media show by parliamentarians. Following a league match between Al-Masry, the home team in the Mediterranean city of Port Said, and Al-Ahly, scores of football fans were crushed to death while others were fatally stabbed or suffocated after being trapped in a long narrow corridor trying to flee rival fans armed with knives and stones. PA Speaker Saad El-Katatny had announced several recommendations at the end of Thursday's session, in which several MPs laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the ruling military council, calling for a swift transfer of power through holding presidential elections. However, analysts said that MPs fell short of expectations. "The MPs' performance was demagogic and was characterized by fierce rivalry, turning the session into political bidding match," Nabil Abdel Fattah, an analyst at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Daily News Egypt. Abdel Fattah believes that the MPs representing the full spectrum of political streams resorted to elaborate political speeches to market themselves. "The Salafis for instance, don't have prior political experience, so they are trying to make their voices heard to the outside world," he said. They should have held serious conversations that would lead to agreements in the coming period, he said. Meanwhile, Ammar Ali Hassan, political analyst, said that the PA should have been more serious in meeting its responsibility of easing the tension and managing the crisis with wisdom. "People started to lose faith in parliament when they should have confidence in it to represent them while negotiating with SCAF," he said. Hassan said that the PA should have dismissed the interior minister and the entire cabinet and summoned the heads of all security directorates nationwide after such a catastrophe. "They don't have other authorities because the constitution they are following gives the president semi-sacred authorities," Abdel Fattah said, pointing out that PA's recommendation to order the interrogation of the interior minister is unconstitutional. They don't have the power to order the investigation of members of the executive authority, he said. However, Hassan disagreed, saying that the country has undergone a revolution against the constitution and the laws that have long-governed the political process. "The PA could have enacted a new law on the spot allowing them to investigate members of the executive authority. Even if it was not immediately activated it would have reassured public opinion," he said, stressing that Egypt is now governed by a constitutional declaration that is negotiable. Essam Sultan, MP with Al-Wasat party, said during the session that it will make no difference if parliament gave a no-confidence vote to the government if the authority that appointed it — in reference to SCAF — still has the power to replace it. "The PA's bylaws allow us to call in SCAF members for questioning," he added. Abdel Fattah says that recommendations to form a fact-finding commission to investigate the events were average measures which don't match the gravity of the incident. Hassan criticized the MPs for being divided by their ideologies and political affiliations instead of focusing on representing the entire population, in this sensitive juncture. He criticized the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) which won the majority of parliamentary seats and El-Katatny, a former leading member of the FJP, for resorting to the minimum level of potential solutions. He explained that the PA speaker is maintaining the attitude of his predecessor, Fathy Sorour, that is, of taking instructions from the ruling authority instead of listening to the people who elected him or taking a pro-revolution stance. Wasat MP Sultan said in a televised interview Thursday that members of parliament made strong statements, but El-Katatny made weak recommendations. This proves that the FJP has struck a deal with the military rulers, Hassan claimed. "The main feature of the deal is to support SCAF's preferred position in the new constitution, the form of the ruling system and to approve and back the presidential candidate supported by SCAF and the Brotherhood," he added. However, Hassan said that this agreement depends on the commitment of both parties to the terms of the deal. "If this doesn't happen the agreement will collapse," he said.
