Parliament channel to shut down on Thursday: NMA

CAIRO – 27 July 2017: Head of National Media Authority (NMA) Hussein Zein announced on Wednesday that Parliament Channel ‘Soot el-Shaab” or the voice of people, will be closed on Thursday midnight.

The closing decision was taken last May by NMA, and has evoked a controversy among parliamentarians and journalists.

“The decision is taken by NMA as part of the reform measures of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union. And there are suggestions to broadcast Parliament sessions on Nile News, channel one and two of the Egyptian national TV,” Khaled Mehany, head of News sector at ERTU (Maspero) told Al-Masry Al-Youm in May.

Dr.Mohamed Fouad, spokesperson of Al-Wafd political party and parliamentarian, denounced the decision and considered it against people’s rights to know what is happening inside the Parliament and follow the performance of the members they have elected.

Soot el-Shaab is a state TV channel specialized in airing Parliament sessions and covers Parliament’s news. The sessions are not broadcasted live on the channel, but only recordings of sessions are being broadcasted later.