RI lawmakers get poor reception in Egypt

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Public uproar over an alleged study tour by 15 lawmakers to Egypt heightened on Monday with a critical report of their activities from Cairo fueling admonishments from fellow legislators here.

The meeting between the Indonesian lawmakers from the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee and their Egyptian counterparts was short and the 10-day visit worth US$76,170 was made at "a bad time", Antara reported, quoting an unnamed Egyptian official from Cairo.

Unaccompanied by any lawmakers or assistants, Egyptian Al- Syaab Parliament Speaker Fathi Sourur welcomed on Sunday the 15 Indonesian lawmakers, led by committee chairman Roestanto Wahidi from the Democratic Party.

The 45-minute-long meeting seemed poorly prepared and Sourur, who was sworn in along with new Egyptian lawmakers less than a week ago, looked "half-hearted" about welcoming the Indonesian delegation, the report said.

Sourur was seen leaving the meeting shortly after to answer telephone calls, welcome a number of his private guests and scrutinize several letters before signing them.

At the end of the meeting, Sourur handed over a book about the Egyptian parliament to be used by Indonesian legislators as material for their comparative study.

An Egyptian lawmaker later said the visit was made at "a bad time".

"I wonder what they expect to get from this visit as we haven't even established our routine yet," the legislator said.

Since leaving Jakarta on Friday afternoon with journalists in pursuing them to the airport, the delegation was reported to have spent only two hours meeting members of the Egyptian parliament. The rest of their time they spent visiting Iskandariyah, a tourist city north of Cairo.

According to sources, the delegation was also scheduled to visit Dubai for shopping.

Suspicions about the purpose of the visit arose a day before the legislators' departure, with some delegation members denying the visit was even taking place. The complete list of names of the delegates was only made available to the public after the story broke but the planned itinerary of the trip remains a secret.

In Jakarta, House Speaker Agung Laksono admitted the delegates' departure had not been approved in a House leadership meeting but had been personally accepted by him and deputy speaker Zaenal Ma'arif.

Agung said some legislators had questioned the relevance of the trip. However, the delegates had insisted Cairo's parliament had prepared an official welcome for them and would properly respond to their inquiries.

"The delegates said Cairo was very eager to welcome them. They wanted to seek information about the supporting system in Cairo's parliament as well as their facilities," Agung said.

Observers suspect the visit was made to spend the allocated House annual travel budget, regardless of its urgency and relevance.

Agung also denied any formal plan to adopt Egypt's gambling law, as suggested by delegate Djoko Edhi Sucipto from the National Mandate Party (PAN). The law allows Egypt to localize and legalize gambling despite its predominantly Muslim population.

PAN faction chairman Abdillah Toha said he would recommend the party's board impose disciplinary sanctions on Djoko and hinted at his possible recall from the House for joining the visit.