During Monday’s People’s Assembly session, a number of MPs, mainly Islamists, launched an unprecedented attack on protesters demonstrating in the vicinity of the Ministry of Interior (MOI). Some described them as thugs, while others called for legislation governing protests.
During a discussion of the ongoing clashes, which have left eight dead, some MPs said that protesters must be distinguished from thugs.
Accusing the media of attempting to incite unrest in the country, Nour Party MP Medhat Abdel Jaber said it was important to differentiate between rebels and thugs,
However, the discussions escalated after independent MP Mostafa Bakry said the protests around the MOI would eventually bring down the state.
"The MOI has been in a state of war for the past five days, and we must give the ministry the right to respond at a certain distance and activate the laws, otherwise the state will fall,” said Bakry, adding that MPs leave through the back doors.
Bakry, a member of the new People’s Assembly, had ambiguous relations with the former regime. He has criticized former National Democratic Party Secretary Ahmed Ezz but also defended former President Mubarak before his ouster.
Since the military council took power, Bakry has attacked Mubarak while praising the military junta in Al-Osboa, where he serves as editor-in-chief, and on his talk show, which is run on private satellite channels.
During the parliamentary session, Bakry went on to criticize what he described as "America’s agents mobilized by Mohamed ElBaradei" who want to overthrow the Egyptian state.
Some Islamists, on the other hand, attempted to tone down the criticism against protesters.
Freedom and Justice Party MP Hussein Ibrahim said that the Egyptian people won the right to peacefully protest through the 25 January revolution.
He added that the People’s Assembly supports peaceful protests but is against vandalism.
He stressed that the People’s Assembly supports restructuring the police force but is against bringing down the state or dismantling the police force.
FJP MP Helmy al-Gazzar said the current events were an American plot to derail the Egyptian revolution.
He went on to say that a book on the CIA’s role in thwarting Arab revolutions was being translated to Arabic. He called on MPs to buy copies of the book to better understand the CIA’s role in damaging the Arab revolutions.
Saad al-Katatny, speaker of the People's Assembly, had commissioned Youth and Sports Committee Chairman Osama Yassin, Defense and National Security Committee Chairman Abbas Mekheimar and MP Mohamed Abu Hamed to investigate claims that the MOI was using shotguns against protesters.
Before the committee arrived to the People’s Assembly, Katatny said the MOI sent him a statement saying that it had not used shot guns.
Meanwhile, doctors working at field hospitals said that dozens of people had been injured by gunshot pellets.
The Health Ministry said a protester was killed by shotgun pellets to the neck and chest.
