Hona Al Assema’s Lamees Al Hadidy defended Mubarak-era Industry Minister Rashid Mohamed Rashid,who apparently reached a settlement agreement yesterday with the Prosecutor General’s Office and a government anti-corruption committee. Judicial sources told Al Borsa that the government approved the settlement on evidence that funds he is alleged to have obtained during his tenure in office were investments he had made prior to assuming his past as minister of trade and industry. Which begs the question: if he is innocent, what is there to settle?

A couple of us here have covered Rashid both during his time as a business leader and as a minister — there was never a whiff of corruption around the man. Based on what we know of the man, we believe a just solution is one that sees charges against him dropped.

“When Rashid was in office, Egypt witnessed high economic growth rates and high export rates…. Furthermore, he strongly was a key backer of the anti-trust law that thwarted the ambitions of steel magnate Ahmed Ezz,” she said. Lamees stressed on the importance of reconciling with Mubarak-era ministers, saying, “We should end these lawsuits, we need Youssef Boutros-Ghali” (watch, running time: 8:12). We couldn’t agree more on the YBG sentiment.

Lamees then reminded us that despite it having been elected, we should not count on the House of Representatives to defend civil liberties. The talkshow host spoke critically of the House Legislative Committee’s refusal to strike “contempt of religion” from the criminal code, noting that the offense has long been used to restrict freedom of expression. We have to give Lamees her due as she showcased a video in which MP Abul Ma’aty Mostafa says Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz’s novels constituted ‘obscene content’ for which Mahfouz should have been arrested. Lamees spoke with MP Nadia Henry, who had championed the effective decriminalization of “contempt of religion.” Says Henry: “We only wanted to reduce the punishment to fines [rather than a prison term],” she said (watch, runtime: 26:28).

Ibrahim Eissa struck the same note on his eponymous Al Qahera wal Nas show, saying being thrown in jail for producing ‘obscene’ content is itself an obscenity. Eissa also called out Naguib Mahfouz-hater Aboul Ma’aty, saying he fits perfectly with Daesh supporters and other ultra-conservatives. Eissa also criticized any talk of a possible political reconciliation with the Ikhwan, saying, “It is more worthwhile to seek reconciliation with imprisoned activists,” Eissa said (watch, runtime: 44:54).

Eissa then interviewed former Finance Minister Ahmed Galal who spoke out against austerity measures. “These policies never result in high economic growth rates,” the minister turned professional gadfly said.

Amr Adib began last night’s episode of Kol Youm by talking about the government’s lifting of tariffs on poultry (more on that in the Speed Round). MP Ehab Ghataty, who is a poultry producer, said that this will destroy the domestic industry (watch, runtime:7:10).

Adib also dove back to the ever popular subject of med shortages, interviewing MP Ayman Abou El Ela, who is part of a recently formed House committee investigating the issue. Oddly enough, Abou El Ela claimed he has documents proving the Health Ministry’s Egyptian Pharma Trading Company has 5 mn packages of infant formula sitting undistributed in its warehouses because the ministry has decided to withhold the product from the market. EGP 200 mn-worth of formula will expire in months, he alleges (watch, runtime: 6:25). Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Mogahed denied the whole affair in a call-in that this is untrue (watch: runtime: 3:28).