Egyptian parliamentarian Mohamed Abdel Aziz Al Ghoul expressed his refusal to the decision taken by the Egyptian government to increase the price of Metro ticket, saying that such decision could increase the pressures on the Egyptian citizen during the current period due to the critical conditions on the economic level and the increasing prices of commodities and food.
He warned that the decision to increase the ticket price could raise the anger of people during the current critical period, saying that the metro is considered one of the major means of transportation on which a big sector of Egyptian citizens depend, including students, workers and employees. He called Egypt’s Ministry of Transportation to take the necessary steps to find other solutions.
Ghoul added, in a statement to “Arabs Today”, “I realize the crises and challenges facing the Egyptian metro, as the utility’s debt hit three hundred million EGP. It failed to pay the salaries of employees and to offer good services to the citizens, while it is not the solution to increase the ticket price.” He added that the government should consider a number of proposals, including contracting with companies’ owners and businesspersons to promote their commodities through the metro tickets.
Regarding the role performed by parliament’s human rights committee, he said that the committee is keen to deal seriously with the issue of streets children, stressing that they work to find solution for this critical issue as soon as possible. He blamed the media platforms for smearing the image of those children, saying that they could be human wealth, if we managed to use them well.
He revealed that they work currently to legislate a new law to ensure the rights of streets children and to their integration into the Egyptian society. The new law will discuss the reasons of the crisis and the ways to resolve it, stressing the need for imposing punitive deterrent actions against those people who adopt abusive approach in dealing with those children.
He praised the proposal to study the national education and human rights in the Egyptian schools during the coming period, saying that it could perform a major role to create new generations of students who love their country and sacrifice for it in the light of campaigns launched on social media networks targeting the Egyptian young people during the current critical period.
He condemned the statements issued by a number of international organizations to condemn the human rights situation in Egypt, saying that such statements are considered a clear interference in the country’s internal affairs and a violation against its sovereignty. He accused them of promoting for specific political agendas, saying that they have not issues any similar statements during the era of former President Mohamed Morsi of Muslim Brotherhood.
He revealed that their visit to Switzerland, scheduled to be conducted this month, comes upon an invitation from Swiss Ambassador to Cairo to attend a human rights forum scheduled to be held in Geneva. He added that they will discuss a number of critical issues, including the efforts to restore Egypt’s smuggled money, saying that they will discuss the ways of cooperation to find solutions for this controversial issue.
He rebuked the calls for reconciliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, blaming the group for the extremism witnessed not only in Egypt but also in the world as whole. He said, “Extremism is not the terrorist attacks that target military and security forces but the ideas promoted by the group since its establishment.”