Egypt's prime minister kamal El-Ganzouri
(Photo: Reuters)
Hundreds of attendees at the General Labour Conference, held Saturday in Alexandria, accused incumbent interim premier Kamal El-Ganzouri of withholding documents that reveal facts on the privatisation programme he was in charge of during his previous tenure as prime minister under toppled president Hosni Mubarak.
El-Ganzouri’s critics believe these documents would unveil corruption of the notorious programme, which commenced implemention under El-Ganzouri in the late 1990s. They say the 79-year-old will be judged guilty should if these documents be lost.
The head of the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), Khaled Ali, and political activist Hamdi Fakhrany have announced their intention to open legal proceedings against over 50 former and serving ministers following the Administrative Court's ruling on the corrupt privatisation of Egyptian state firms.
El-Ganzouri, who was previously premier between 1996 and 1999, heads the list of ministers indicted in the lawsuit.
In October 2011, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Public Funds began summoning large numbers of former ministers, most notably those from the economic sector.
From the El-Ganzouri government to that of Ahmad Nazif, officials have been accused of violations that marred the sale of public sector companies, including granting Saudi Prince Al-Walid Bin Talal 100,000 feddans of state land.
Ganzouri's years in office saw 70 publicly owned firms at least partially sold to private buyers.
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