A liberal lawmaker on Wednesday accused Freedom and Justice Party and Salafi MPs of frustrating some parliamentarians' attempts to summon the head of the ruling military council for questioning.
State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper quoted Free Egyptians Party MP Mohamed Abu Hamed as saying during a seminar in Alexandria that he and other MPs have submitted requests to require Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to appear before the People’s Assembly to answer accusations leveled against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
Dozens of requests were submitted to People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny, but were turned down without an explanation, and were not put up for a vote in the chamber, Abu Hamed said.
On 12 February, Katatny received multiple requests for the ministers of interior, finance, housing, petroleum, social insurance and justice to be questioned before the assembly.
These proposed summons, which include Tantawi, Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri and Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, include accusations of responsibility for violence against protesters, armed robberies, murders of citizens and foreigners, and the violence at Port Said’s football stadium last month that left 74 dead.
At a meeting the next day attended by Tantawi and other SCAF members, some military leaders expressed concern that Freedom and Justice Party MPs might use Tantawi’s appearance in Parliament for political gain, according to the independent daily Al-Tahrir.
