The deputy chairman of Egypt's State Council, Farouk Morsy, said on Monday he would prepare a bill abolishing the prime minister's right to directly assign government projects to specific companies.
Morsy told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he would submit a proposal to the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to remove the constitutional article granting that right.
He argued that the article is one of the main factors behind administrative corruption in Egypt.
Morsy cited the case involving Ahmed Nazif, the former prime minister who is accused of directly contracting a German company to provide the country with car license plates for prices higher than local rates, which cost the state LE92 million in losses.
Wahid Abdel Meguid, an expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, described the proposed bill as a positive development.
He said the draft law would help eliminate wide-spread corruption on behalf of the prime minister and the heads of public institutions, but would not affect ministerial powers.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
