Al-Sahwa [Archives:2003/644/Press Review]

19 June 2003
Columnist Zaid al-Shami says in his article the General People's Congress party has won the vote of confidence in the parliament. That was expected. The amazing thing was the irresponsible campaign launched by official newspapers against the opponents of the program. It is regrettable that the narrow-minded mentality maintains thinking that whatever the government says or does is correct. Nevertheless the submitting of the program inside the parliament has shaken the stagnant waters in the democratic behavior. When the prime minister took the floor to read out his government program before its distribution of the copies among the MPs they protested his move because they have the right to read and discuss it. The prime minister was forced to back down and give his directives to distribute copies of the program. The other thing is that comments of heads of parliamentary blocs were positive. Those comments have touched the main gaps in the program. The parliament has committed itself to the regulation and left the three blocks a space of time to discuss the program. The other aspect is that many of the GPC party representatives criticized the program. On the last day of the discussion the prime minister lost his patience because of the remarks and showed he was not ready to respond to them.

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