CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood MP Hussein Ibrahim put in a request at the People’s Assembly on Wednesday to ban MPs from doing business with the government throughout their term in parliament.
Ibrahim, deputy head of the Brotherhood’s parliamentary bloc, explained that Article 95 of the Egyptian constitution stipulates that MPs should not be allowed to conduct any financial transactions with the government.
“However, he added, “clause number 217 of the People’s Assembly’s bylaws contradicts the constitution and allows MPs to do business with the government under vague, elastic conditions. Thus, this clause is unconstitutional.
Ibrahim said that the proper implementation of Article 95 will “put a stop to all rumors concerning MPs abusing their positions for personal gain.
But this does not mean that large corporations by MPs like steel magnate Ahmed Ezz, Hisham Talaat Moustafa, ex- chairman of Talaat Moustafa Group, will not be allowed to do business with the government since “those function as part of a big corporations listed on the stock market and run by a board of directors, not as individuals, he added.
“What I am referring to here are the villas in the North Coast villas and exchanging hands between government officials and MPs to secure business deals, Ibrahim said.
If the PA fails to respond to this request, Ibrahim plans to take the issue to the Higher Constitutional Court.
