First session of new Egypt parliament marred by chaos
Date
1/11/2016 4:28:29 AM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Egypt’s parliament witnessed a stormy first session on Sunday after one lawmaker insisted on changing the text of the parliamentary oath of office while accusing fellow MPs of being "informers" for the Egyptian intelligence agencies.
After the 596 parliamentarians were sworn in they elected Ali Abd al-Aal as Parliament Speaker.
During the oath-taking the chamber burst into chaos after controversial MP Murtada Mansour changed several words of the oath vowing to respect "some articles of the constitution" instead of vowing to respect "the constitution and the law".
The move prompted acting Parliament Speaker Bahaa Abu Shuqqa to demand that Mansour recite the proper text of the oath.
The latter however refused to comply with the request saying he did not recognize the country’s national charter which he objected praised Egypt’s January 25 2011 popular uprising.
That uprising -- which will see its five-year anniversary later this month -- ended the 30-year rule of former President Hosni Mubarak.
Mansour also accused a number of his fellow MPs of being "informers" for Egypt’s security agencies -- claims that were greeted with a burst of indignation and shouting that reverberated throughout the assembly.
Mansour’s allegations led to several altercations between various MPs prompting Abu Shuqqa to threaten to prematurely adjourn the session.
The new parliament is Egypt’s second since the 2011 uprising.
Egypt’s last parliamentary election -- held in late 2011 following Mubarak’s departure -- was swept by the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
The following year however the Egyptian authorities citing flawed electoral laws dissolved the Islamist-dominated assembly.
According to analysts the current assembly is dominated largely by businessmen and former members of Mubarak’s now-defunct National Democratic Party.
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