There were times when Mamdouh Qenawi, an opposition party leader and a legislator, had the chance to speak his mind in the Parliament freely. This, however, has totally changed. Qenawi says tolerance for opposition inside the Shura Council (the Upper House of the Egyptian Parliament) seems to be fading away. Whether it is when members of the 264-member council debate issues seminal to the future of the nation, or when they discuss marginal issues, Qenawi is no longer heard. "There's what you can call despotism of the majority in the council," Qenawi told this newspaper in an interview. A few weeks ago, Qenawi, a former presidential candidate, was at the centre of a major storm in the council when he strongly lashed out at the Government and the Egyptian regime. Solely defending his attitude without any support, he had eventually to apologise for making this criticism. The narrow space within which Qenawi, who most of the time sticks out as representing the sole voice for opposition in the council, moves inside the Upper House of the Egyptian Parliament, which was given stronger legislative powers in 2007, might shed light on what the opposition might expect in the council after the mid-term elections which will take place on June 1. This, put aside, some people say the make-up of the council and the way its debates are managed weaken it and also nullify its outcomes, which can otherwise benefit Egypt greatly. Some people have even gone as far as saying that this make-up renders the whole council ineffective at a time when Egypt is in bad need of a serious parliament to solve its problems. "Parliaments are mere products of the countries where they exist," said Wahid el-Oqsori, the chief of the opposition Egypt's Arab Socialist Party. "Egypt is a country where the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) allows for no power sharing. Why should it give the chance to the opposition to express itself in the Parliament then?" he asked. Perhaps one reason why the Shura Council does not strongly leave its mark on this country's parliamentary life is that there is no strong opposition inside it, some people say. The few opposition figures who have seats in it are either appointed by President Hosni Mubarak, who has the right to appoint 44 members during each of the council's two terms, and have loyalty to the President or have lost hope in changing anything by their opposition. Qenawi says the Chairman of the Shura Council, Safwat el-Sherif, also the Secretary General of the ruling party and a central personality in Egypt's political party life because he also heads the Political Parties' Affairs Committee, which licenses new political parties, shows no tolerance to the opposition. "He isn't able to forget that he is an important leadership in the ruling party," Qenawi said. "This undermines every attempt on his part to objectively moderate discussions in the Parliament," he added. Because he is embarrassed whenever he tried to express an opinion while the council is in session, Qenawi has stopped speaking altogether. He attends all sessions, but as a passive spectator, he keeps watching the majority legislators strutting and fretting upon the stage of the council and then goes home. Inside his office, however, he reviews the records of the discussions that took place in the same council 20 years ago and feels sorry for what he calls the "deplorable conditions" of the Upper House of Parliament. He says parliament building is as luxurious as a five-star hotel. "But sorry to say, this beautiful building does nothing to push Egypt's parliamentary life forward," he argued. "I'm sure the Government is contented with that," he added.
