Egypt political figures react to president's reversal of planned tax hikes
Political personalities and pundits criticise Egyptian President Morsi's plan to raise taxes, which he retracted only hours after issuing it
Zeinab El Gundy, Monday 10 Dec 2012
Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi (Photo: Reuters)
Egyptian political figures and parties reacted to President Mohamed Morsi's Monday move to retract an earlier decision to increase taxes and customs on certain commodities. Nader Bakkar, spokesman of the Salafist Nour Party, criticised how quickly Morsi had retracted the planned tax increase only hours after issuing it.
"The speedy retraction of the president's decision to increase taxes does not mean it was met with popular refusal so much as it suggests a problem in the decision-making process," Bakkar said via Twitter.
Ahmed Sayid El-Naggar, prominent economy analyst, slammed Morsi's actions in televised comments on Sunday and on Facebook.
"Dr. Morsi's actions are ridiculous. He signed a decree that he halted hours later after I and others reminded him that it was a stupid decision when he needs to garner votes for the draft constitution, which has been defamed," El-Naggar stated on Facebook on Monday. "It's as if he is punishing voters by raising taxes and prices."
Former MP Mostafa El-Naggar also slammed the move, saying it raised questions about the decision-making process.
"It suggests that there are two unknown parties in Egypt fighting over the decision-making process," he asserted on Monday."It is the people's right to know who those parties are."
Similar sentiments were expressed by Basem Kamel, former MP and leading member of the liberal Constitution Party.
"Who is behind the decrees issued by President Morsi, which he later cancels?" Kamel asked via Twitter.
"If there is someone interfering in the decision-making process, then this is a disaster," he added. "And if the president is the one who is issuing these decisions that he later cancels, it will be an even bigger disaster."
On Sunday, the president's Freedom and Justice Party – the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood – issued a statement denouncing the president's decisions and demanding they be put on hold.
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