CAIRO – 29 May 2018: With a busy day in Parliament over, Egypt Today provides a comprehensive wrap up of the Egyptian Parliament’s proceedings for the day and brings you the highlight of the week.
Highlights of the week:
Laws addressing periodic increases of pensions and wages scheduled for second week of June
MP Mohamed Wahaballah, Deputy of the Manpower Committee in Parliament, confirmed Tuesday that the laws addressing periodic increases of pensions and wages have been scheduled to take place in the second week of June. The government will refer the laws to the Egyptian Parliament by that time, confirms Wahaballah; the benefits of this increase must be done before the start of the new fiscal year scheduled for the first of July.
Wahaballah stressed that the parliament expects the increase in pensions and wages to be more than last year, given the rise in prices. This increase is also expected, the Deputy explains, due to the government’s commitment to provide good social protection and to mitigate and limit the negative effects that could impact citizens as a result of the implementation of the economic reform program.
The Prime Minister had confirmed during his most recent visit to parliament that the government is still studying the law.
A look into Egypt's Protection of Antiquities Law
Egyptian tourism has
a quite recovery in 2018 as booking are up by 89 per cent. Yet, the country always suffered from sellers and vendors who have a reputation for harassing tourists. Fortunately, a new law has been put in place by the Egyptian parliament banning street vendors from harassing tourists near popular attractions.
The Parliament has approved the new Protection of Antiquities Law last month, including Article 53 that regulated the penalties of harassing tourists.
Under the new law, “Unless there is a tougher penalty stipulated in any other law, whoever harasses tourists or visitors of archaeological sites or museums, with the intention of begging or promoting, offering or selling a good or service, shall be punished with a fine of not less than LE 3,000 ($169) and not more than LE 10,000.”
MP Ehab al-Tamawy called for toughening the punishment to reach a fine of LE 20,000. Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enani and MP Osama Heikal, head of the Culture and Media Committee in Parliament, supported Tamawy’s suggestion, but other MPs refused to increase the penalty.
Parliament Speaker Ali Abdul Aal said, “There is no such penalty in any other country and the toughening of the punishment will not eradicate the phenomenon. Increasing the awareness about the nuisance of such acts among the society can contribute to ending them.”
Top news of the day
House of Representatives is ready for President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to take the oath of office for his second term
MP Salah Hasaballah, the media spokesman for the House of Representatives, confirmed that the House of Representatives is ready for President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to take the oath of office for his second term as Head of State, scheduled for early next week; all organizational procedures have been completed and all Members of Parliament are expected to be present during the oath.
Hasaballah also said that the media is one of the bridges between the Council and the Egyptians; it acts as a tool to clarify the council’s legislation and process, explains Hasaballah.
In a press conference to review the achievements of parliament, Hasaballah stressed that the state and the government has to take many difficult decisions, however, those decisions are in the interest of the citizen. The spokesperson added that the House has high hopes and aspirations to provide a high-quality life for the citizen.
Hasaballah added that there are a number of questions presented to the House, and that these questions will be on the agenda during the coming period. He further pointed out that pointing out that a number of ministers did not work to the level aspired for by the House, while others were very active and communicated excellently with Members of Parliament; Hasaballah confirmed that assessments of the performance of ministers was objective, not personal.
Members of Parliament call for action:
Local Administration Committee in Parliament calls for the restructuring of the specialized police and increasing its budget
On Tuesday, the Local Administration Committee of the House of Representatives called for the restructuring of the specialized police through increasing budgets, especially for traffic and facilities officers.
“This is a repeated demand based on a real discussions based on multiple briefings at the state level; the discussion always concludes that the human and material resources are too small and must be doubled,” Engineer Ahmed El-Sageny, Head of the Parliament’s Local Administration Committee, said during the committee's meeting on Tuesday.
Sageny’s comments came during the discussion of the request for briefing by MP Mohamed Al-Husseini on the severe negligence in restoring the collapsed iron fences and other securing facilities on the bridges in the Boulaq El-Dakrour district. The briefing also discussed the lack of traffic services in Boulaq and demanded fixed traffic services in the district.
Major General Mohammed Darwish, Deputy Director General of Giza Traffic, said that two services will be assigned in places currently suffering from lack of traffic services, and a special fixed radar will be set for the Saft Al-Laban axis, indicating that they are working with limited physical and human resources and that they need an increase in human power and budget.
Law regulating the press and criminal procedures to come before the closing of the regular session
Spokesman for the parliament Salah Hassaballah said in a press conference Tuesday that since the start of its third regular session on October 3, 2017, the House of Representatives has endorsed 111 draft laws and 32 international agreements.
The spokesperson added that during the remainder of the regular session, the law regulating the press and the media, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, which is close to 600 legal texts, will be done. Of the 600 legal texts, 400 are expected to be amended.
Hassaballah stressed that the Parliament is seeking to complete the law on Local Administration in the current session.
He explained that the Parliament had passed 32 international conventions on various educational and environmental grants and services, and discussed 385 requests for briefings and 303 urgent statements during this session.
On the Horizon:
Communications and Information Technology Committee scedules meeting to discuss draft law on General Authority for Support and Decision-Making
The Communications and Information Technology Committee in the House of Representatives scheduled a meeting June 7 to complete the discussion of the draft law submitted by MP Mohammed Khalifa and ten members of the House of Representatives on the General Authority for Support and Decision-Making. It is expected that a preliminary approval will come shortly after said hearing.
The decision to schedule a meeting on June 7 came after MP Khalifa revealed that he will make some amendments in the draft law, as a result of what he heard from the representative of the Ministry of Communications and the President of the Center for Support and Decision-Making.
Four requests for a briefing for the Minister of Electricity in front of Energy and Environment Committee in parliament next Tuesday
Energy and Environment Committee of the House of Representatives, headed by Engineer Talaat al-Sewedy, will hold a meeting Tuesday morning to discuss a number of issues that came in briefings submitted by Members of Parliament for the attention of Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohammed Shaker.
Multiple requests for briefing have been submitted, notably one by Member of Parliament Salah Shawky Akel for the failure of the Sohag electricity sector
Most notably, there was a request from MP Wafaa Salah Shawqi Aqeel for the failure of the Sohag electricity sector, represented in the electrical engineering of Tama, in implementing high pressure conversion cables in Al-Atamna Village, Sohag, despite it being included in the strategic plan for financial year 2017/18.
Social Solidarity Committee in Parliament pushed meetings to week starting June 3
The Social Solidarity Committee of the House of Representatives has postponed the three meetings previously scheduled to take place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week, to next week.
The Social Solidarity Committee of the House of Representatives will hold meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to discuss a number of draft laws, foremost of which is the consideration of the Prime Minister's decision on the draft law concerning the National Council for People with Special Needs.
The committee will open its three scheduled meetings Tuesday by discussing the government's decision to issue the National Council for People with Special Needs and will look at a draft law submitted by the deputies in this regard.
Invitations to attend the meetings were extended to the Ministries of Justice, Finance and Social Solidarity and representatives of the National Council for Disability Affairs.
The committee will also discuss the draft law of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood submitted by a number of MPs. The committee will conclude its meetings Thursday, discussing a draft law submitted by one of the MPs on the establishment of the National Council for the Care of Orphans Affairs and their guardians.
Laws addressing periodic increases of pensions and wages scheduled for second week of June
MP Mohamed Wahaballah, Deputy of the Manpower Committee in Parliament, confirmed Tuesday that the laws addressing periodic increases of pensions and wages have been scheduled to take place in the second week of June. The government will refer the laws to the Egyptian Parliament by that time, confirms Wahaballah; the benefits of this increase must be done before the start of the new fiscal year scheduled for the first of July.
Wahaballah stressed that the parliament expects the increase in pensions and wages to be more than last year, given the rise in prices. This increase is also expected, the Deputy explains, due to the government’s commitment to provide good social protection and to mitigate and limit the negative effects that could impact citizens as a result of the implementation of the economic reform program.
The Prime Minister had confirmed during his most recent visit to parliament that the government is still studying the law.
In Brief: Foreign Parliaments on Egypt:
Germany seeks to economically support Egypt
On Sunday, during a meeting with Members of Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee in the attendance of German Ambassador in Cairo Julius Georg, Member of Parliament Alexander Radwan
that Germany wants to economically support Egypt and encourage it to play its key role in the region.
“The image of the moderate Islam should be shown to the West, said Radwan, pointing at the important role of Islamic institutions, topped by Al-Azhar,” wrote MENA.
The meeting touched on numerous regional issues including the Syrian, Libyan and Yemeni crises.
Since October 2017, Parliament has approved 111 bills and 32 international agreements
Since the start of its third regular session on October 3, 2017, the House of Representatives
endorsed 111 draft laws and 32 international agreements.
The bills, draft laws and agreements aimed to upgrade the different sectors in Egypt and improve the lives of citizens. Among the top sectors addressed during the past few months since October are: health care, supporting workers and youth rights, countering corruption and easing investment measures, said spokesman for the parliament Salah Hassaballah in a press conference Tuesday.
Hassaballah pointed to examples from the different bills, most notably bills on health and social insurance, rights of persons with disabilities, trade unions and nuclear energy.
The spokesman for the parliament also mentioned some of the key topics that will be on the table for the next period, most notably the draft law regulating the press and media, and another draft law regulating criminal procedures that will contain about 600 articles.
Comments
Leave a Comment