Head of the parliamentary bloc of the Salafi Al-Nour party in the Shura Council Abdallah Badran said the party will legally contest the European Union loan.
Badran told Al Jazeera that loans are not the solution to the current economic crisis. “The establishment of developmental projects and setting a minimum wage are better alternatives.”
Badran said the loan was against the constitution because Al-Azhar wasn’t consulted and thus there is a possibility the loan involves usury which is against Islamic Sharia, state-owned Al-Akhbar newspaper reported.
He added that the loan was not sufficiently discussed at the Shura Council; it was discussed in two sessions on the same day. Al-Azhar Association of Senior Scholars was not present during these sessions.
“The party will file a lawsuit with the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) to cancel the loan that will only burden the state budget and generations to come with more debt,” Badran said.
Shaaban Abdel Alim, a member of the party’s board said that the possibility of filing a lawsuit was still being discussed. “We objected to the loan because it wasn’t ratified by Al-Azhar’s Association of Senior Scholars as stated in the constitution, thus it’s unconstitutional.”
