An independent MP started a hunger strike on Sunday in protest against the Parliament's initial approval of a bill revamping constituencies, thereby abolishing his electoral district. "I have collected thousands of signatures from residents in the areas I represent. You should have reviewed them," MP Moustafa Bakri told members of the Parliament Legislative Committe who endorsed controversial bill minutes before his appearance Sunday. The MP got angry and shouted at the committee members saying: "it seems you are acting in a sham play". "All these attempts to steal my constituency will fail. I will never leave even if I have been shot to death," Bakri fumed. The proposed law will abolish Helwan and Tibin constituency and merge it into Maadi, where a Cabinet minister from the ruling party is standing for a seat in the Parliament. This would make Bakri's chances of getting a seat in the new Parliament very slim. Residents in Bakri's constituency have recently held several protests outside the Parliament against the decision and threatened to start an open protest. Bakri blamed Ahmed Ezz, a senior official of the ruling party, for trying to exclude him for some tit-for-tat reasons. However, he did not give more details. Bakri used to embarrass the Government by his parliamentary questions on substandard wheat and the use of sewerage water for irrigation. The proposed changes triggered a similar protest in the Giza governorate's area of Al-Warraq on Friday when angry protesters closed the Cairo Ring Road, asking for their constituency to remain unchanged.
