In the shadow of deteriorating economic conditions and a lack of clear reform plans, the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has recently been facing harsh backlash from several members of parliament. Starting Monday, the government has received numerous petitions and demands from MPs calling for the resignation and impeachment of the current cabinet. These demands cite the ongoing price hikes of basic commodities and the rapid appreciation of the US dollar against the Egyptian pound. However, the majority of MPs did not approve of the calls for impeachment. "The current cabinet includes a number of ministers who undertake their tasks properly; however, the economic group has failed to put an end to the ongoing crises, which has pushed more than 100 MPs to demand the impeachment of the cabinet," MP John Talaat told Daily News Egypt on Tuesday. The government is expected to provide the parliament with a report next week, concluding its performance during the past six months and how it has overcome specific problems and crises, Talaat said. The parliament will then determine whether or not to move forward with the impeachment measures. A number of MPs asked the prime minister and a few ministers for urgent responses to a series of economic questions on Tuesday. MP Mohamed Fouad demanded that Investment Minister Dalia Khorshid and Industry and Trade Minister Tarek Kabil be questioned. The questions focused on the recent measures carried out by the government against a number of food production factories and companies, such as confiscation of sugar stocks without presenting justified reasons. This series of confiscations caused massive losses due to the necessary full suspension of production lines in these factories, despite these companies officially and legally working in Egypt, Fouad said in a press statement on Tuesday. The statement read: "The stock of sugar confiscated from factories is an agreed-upon quantity that the government authorised these factories to use." Egypt is already going through harsh economic circumstances which have resulted in the disappearance of vital commodities and medication. The confiscation of sugar by the government will negatively impact future investment in Egypt, Fouad said. Similarly, former head of the parliament's Human Rights Committee Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat asked that all economic group ministers be recalled and that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) governor discuss the reasons behind the unprecedented increase in the US dollar exchange rate against the Egyptian pound. In a press statement, of which Daily News Egypt received a copy, El-Sadat inquired as to the government's final decision on the International Monetary Fund loan and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound. He said that governmental officials should be responsible and accountable for Egypt's deteriorated economic situation. The prime minister attended the end of Monday's parliamentary session, but only after members had exhausted their anger and signed the current cabinet's resignation and impeachment petition. Ismail said that the current crisis is the result of the way Egypt's economic problems had previously been handled. He added that this is not the first time the country has been affected by economic challenges, asserting that the problem is not only economic but also has to do with the administrative system of the state, which has increased in inefficiency and corruption.
