A Government without accountability

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly thanked the Speaker of Parliament for the wise management of the state’s final accounts sessions.

An executive official commends the performance of the legislative authority that oversees it.

The government’s gratitude can be explained only by the fact that the scope for discussion regarding the budget was insufficient, given the frighteningly negative figures that will determine our path in the near future.

They suppressed dissenting opinions after members of parliament called for closing the debate amidst heated arguments about the soaring public debt and the serious observations made by the Central Auditing Organization regarding the government’s overall performance – particularly concerning loans.

The Speaker of Parliament yielded to their request, leading to a vote by everyone to halt the discussion, followed by the usual vote to pass it.

This parliamentary practice is just another piece of “democratic window dressing” for passing laws and policies – a bitter medicine for the Egyptian people in a parliament that is supposed to represent them and be on their side, not against them.

This parliamentary scene should have been one where we heard in detail the observations of the oversight body, the Central Auditing Organization, followed by engagement from the representatives, responses from the government, all broadcast live for the people to see.

Sadly, even just having a proper debate within the People’s Assembly has become our ultimate demand in the people’s parliament!

The assembly needed to listen more intently to the concerns raised by some members. How, for example, can a government fail to manage grants and loans for certain projects, according to the Central Auditing Organization’s notes? Aren’t these loans and grants ultimately paid for by the people through their daily struggles, whether in fuel price hikes or the high cost of living?

How can a government neglect its responsibilities and not be held accountable, borrow without accountability, and fail without accountability?!

There’s a fundamental problem with hearing alternative voices when discussing the people’s affairs. The parliamentary practice, as it stands, remains untouched by the negative impact of changing circumstances and unaffected by any semblance of wisdom.

This isn’t just an issue for the parliament alone, but for all parties involved in the political landscape of Egypt.

The one positive aspect of this parliament is the disappearance of the farcical scenes from our last one. However, things have largely remained the same: suppression of dissenting opinions and an imbalance in the relationship between the executive and legislative branches!

So long as our parliaments function like this, governments will continue to operate without accountability in a situation entrenched for decades. What’s needed is to build a new experience, perhaps allowing us to achieve the bare minimum of political practice.

Here, I’m not invoking models from around the world, but rather calling for political common sense, even just once, after years of wandering!

Political common sense is the path to the beginning of reason, a step towards genuine construction, free from puppets, manufactured parties, or summoning herds of “parliamentary approvals.” One where the people are not mere spectators, but actively involved, not summoned by handouts or microphones of patronage!

After all these years, reality is pushing some to lament the parliaments of Mubarak’s era. Having a parliament that is truly in control of its own decisions has become a dream for some, as there were at least spaces for other voices back then!

As long as this is Egypt’s parliament, we will continue to see governments present accounts without any real accountability, and we will see the Prime Minister praising the “wise management” of the sessions.

Author’s biography:

Alaa Al-Ghadrify has been the Editor-in-Chief of Al Masry Al Youm newspaper since October 2023, and the Executive Editor-in-Chief at ONA Media Group since 2016.

He is also an opinion writer in the Al-Watan newspaper and the Masrawy website, and an advisor at the Egypt Media Forum.

He further serves as a lecturer in television journalism and in-depth journalism for postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University.

He worked as Editor-in-Chief of CBC Extra channel, which he founded, as former Managing-Editor of Al Watan newspaper, and former Executive Editor-in-Chief of its website.

He also co-founded the Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, the Al Watan newspaper, and the Al Ashera Masaan program on Dream TV channel, and was the Head of Program Editing at Alhurra channel.

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