The biggest story on what was otherwise a boring night on the airwaves was news that the House of Representatives has signed off on a bill that will allow for private sector participation in running the Cairo Metro.

Private sector to get a piece of the Metro pie: The House gave preliminary nod yesterday to amendments to the laws governing the National Authority for Tunnels, which will allow the private sector to get in on operating and maintaining the Cairo Metro, according to Youm7. The amendments — which come nearly a month after similar amendments opened up the railway sector to the private sector — will allow companies to manage Metro lines under contracts of up to 15 years, MP Mohamed Badrawy told Kol Youm’s Amr Adib. He added that the private sector can help resolve some of the issues hindering the development of the service, primarily lack of funding (watch, runtime: 4:40). Adib seemed pleased with the progress, but of course had to note that he’s been calling for a similar move for years (watch, runtime: 2:14).

Will Egypt’s political parties merge to consolidate their power? The idea seems to be on the table for Parliament’s majority bloc, the Support Egypt Coalition. Leader MP Mohamed El Sewedy seems to believe that merging smaller political parties to establish broader, more-encompassing entities maybe a way to remedy the existing vacuum in Egypt’s political scene, he tells Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi. A committee from the coalition is currently studying whether parties within the bloc should become one and attempting to work out the legal aspects of such a move, El Sewedy said, reassuring Lamees that the coalition would never morph into a new National Democratic Party (watch, runtime: 6:17 and here, runtime: 2:17).

The move is unconstitutional, legal expert Shawki Al Sayed told Al Hayah Al Youm’s Khaled Abu Bakr, who seemed unsettled by the coalition’s announcement (watch, runtime: 5:11). Parliament spokesman Salah Hasaballah told Abu Bakr, however, that MPs would never work against the constitution (watch, runtime: 6:22).

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi ratified yesterday a law that allows the state to seize assets belonging to members of terrorist groups, an important piece of legislation for Amr Adib, who seemed very annoyed by Mubarak-era parliament speaker and attorney Fathi Sorour for taking on the defense of various members of the Ikhwan (watch, runtime: 9:00).

Speaking of which, former presidential candidate and Ikhwan member Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh’s health was in the spotlight amid reports he has taken a turn for the worse while in custody. Lamees seemed unconvinced, discrediting the story as heresay (watch, runtime: 2:59).

Social housing and slum redevelopment were again the focal point of last night’s episode of Masaa DMC (watch here, runtime: 7:31 and here, runtime: 5:03).