Jimmy's Corner

Opposition Islamist lawmakers walked out of Egypt's parliament on Saturday to protest at the expulsion of a fellow MP who had criticised the government for letting a French warship through the Suez Canal.

The Muslim Brotherhood said on its Web site that parliament speaker Fathi Sorour had expelled Mustafa Mohamed Mustafa "to deny the Muslim Brotherhood MPs the chance to reveal new scandals of the Egyptian government in the matter of the French ship Clemenceau". Reuters (link from The Muslim Brotherhood Website)

I wish I had watched that on TV, imagine this, the Speaker of the People’s Assembly dismisses one of the MPs because he does not respect the speaker’s orders to “shut up”! I think Mr. Fathi Sorour, the Speaker of the Egyptian People’s Assembly, wanted to remember the old days when he was a teacher then a headmaster and he just thought the MP one of his students whom he dismisses out of classes.

The Muslim Brotherhood MP wanted to discuss the government’s permission given to the French Warship Clemenceau that contains 500 tons of asbestos to pass through the Suez Canal in order to go to India, which is a great threat over the Egyptian environment.

The Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentarian persisted to continue, proclaiming that the government discarded many of the parliament's decisions. The Parliament Chairman, Fathy Soror, threatened to eject him. However, Mustafa said 'the public interest is of priority'. Accordingly, Soror called for a vote to dismiss Mustafa to escape the disclosure of new government scandals in respect of the French ship.

The ruling National Democratic Party's MPs voted for the dismissal. Therefore, the Muslim Brotherhood's legislatives, in a protesting action, resolved to leave the session. (Muslim Brotherhood website)

Meanwhile, The Speaker of the People’s Assembly (who is a National Democratic Party member too) could not deny anything but he said that dismissed the MP because his voice was loud!!!! This is just what I call “headmasters’ democracy in Egypt”.

Silly note: The Speaker of the People’s Assembly Ahmed Fathi Sorour is well known for interrupting MPs when they start saying what he does not like, and counting votes on decisions with his eyes down not even looking to see that no one raised his hand or took it down and everybody is just asleep.