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Tuesday, 2 October 2018

House’s return cascades the airwaves

The House of Representatives convening for its fourth annual legislative session since it was constituted was the highlight of an otherwise very unexciting evening.

A number of MPs took to the airwaves to discuss their busy fall legislative agenda, which entails amendments to laws including the Criminal Procedures Act, Local Administration Act, and Personal Status Act (we’ve got you covered on all that and more in our Enterprise One: Legislation Watch, below) (watch, runtime: 24:18).

The Mostakbal Watan Party is planning on introducing draft legislation for the regulation e-commerce, Rep. Atef Nasser told Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary (watch, runtime: 1:50). While the Free Egyptians Party intends to propose bills tackling population growth and illiteracy, Rep. Ayman Aboul Ela also said (watch, runtime: 3:07). Rep. Hala Aboul Said of El Mohfzeen party said hopes that the House’s sessions will be televised this term (watch, runtime: 3:20). (Don’t hold your breath on that last bit.)

Online tax return filing was the topic du jour on Hona Al Asema, where the head of the Tax Authority’s research department, Ragah Mahrous, explained that the decision is mandatory for all legal entities and others required to pay the value-added tax. Other citizens will have the option to file tax paperwork until 2020, when everything goes digital (watch, runtime: 6:26).

Masaa DMC then interviewed engineers working at the Zohr natural gas field (watch, runtime: 45:29). The talking heads also all covered the inauguration of first Arab forum for special needs schools, which President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended yesterday (watch here, runtime: 14:16, here, runtime: 2:09, and here, runtime: 4:34).

A public beating goes viral: Meanwhile, a photo of a 14 year-old girl tied to the back of a rickshaw after an alleged altercation with a stranger went viral on social media yesterday and was picked up by both Hona Al Asema (watch, runtime: 11: 15) and Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 2:40). The girl’s lawyer, Ahmed Abdel Salam, phoned in to tell the hosts about the incident, explaining that the man insisted on “punishing” the girl after she “almost” hit him with a glass bottle she’d been playing with in the street. Abdel Salam that both parties agreed to reconcile before the case was officially referred to prosecution. Rights activist Azza Kamel called on civil society organizations to take action against the abuse to which the girl was subject (watch, runtime: 5:14).

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