The following article was published by by Daily News Egypt on May 4, 2010:
CAIRO: The People’s Assembly (PA) reprimanded National Democratic Party member Nasha’at El-Qassas on Sunday for proposing that police “shoot” protestors last month in the wake of the April 6 demonstrations.
During Sunday’s parliamentary session, Parliament Speaker Ahmed Fathy Sorour read a formal apology written by El-Qassas, in which he regretted what he called “a slip of the tongue” and vowed that “it won’t happen again,” according to state online news portal egynews.net.
El-Qassas admitted his comments were an affront to the ruling party and the PA.
At a joint meeting last month between the human rights and the national security committees at the PA, El-Qassas said, “Shoot them and use the bullets on all the protestors that are breaking the law,” later maintaining his comments only pertained to “those who break the law.”
“If it was in my hands, I would interrogate the Minister of Interior for his kindness when dealing with those outlaws,” he said.
The committees had convened to discuss the recent protests by democracy advocates and the violent police crackdown of them.
According to Sorour, reprimanding an MP is a harsh penalty and is sterner than banning them from attending a session.
Head of the Planning and Budget Committee and NDP MP Ahmed Ezz reiterated El-Qassas’s sentiments in a personal apology to parliament Sunday, reportedly repeating the words: “I apologize, I apologize, I apologize.”
Ezz added that the party does not intend to justify El-Qassas’s comments, suggesting that if it weren’t for El-Qassas’s apology the party would have adopted different measures in dealing with the matter, according to egynews.net.
In your opinion, is a simple reprimand enough to punish a man who is supposedly representing the people for inciting violence against peaceful demonstrators?
