CAIRO: Speaker of the People's Assembly urge MP Mostafa Bakry to end his hunger strike Monday, describing him as a “knight” and saying that hunger strikes were not appropriate for those of his stature. Bakry had started a hunger strike inside the People's Assembly (PA) on Sunday to protest against a draft law proposing the division of electoral constituencies. Bakri began the strike as soon as the PA's legislative committee approved the new law. During Monday's session Sorour met with Bakry, editor-in-chief of independent newspaper Al-Osbou, and described him and a “knight who does not need to go on hunger strike like others, but can use his sword to get what he wants." Based on the new law, Bakry's constituency number 25 in Helwan governorate will be merged with another represented by MP Sayed Meshaal, also the Minister of State for Military Production. The law which has led many MPs to accuse the government of pursuing their personal interests in the division of constituencies intended only to exclude “undesirable” representatives from parliament. Under the new amendments, three new areas were introduced: Helwan, Sixth of October and Luxor. This has naturally led to the re-allocation of constituencies. Additionally, 32 constituencies were allocated to women in accordance with the recently-stipulated women's quota of 64 seats in parliament. Mufid Shehab, Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs explained that the amendments were necessary since the three new governorates of Helwan, Sixth of October and Luxor were introduced.
