By Mohammad Baali
Albawaba.com – Cairo
Egyptian Premier Atef Ebeid has denied as baseless reports that the chief of the country's bourse has resigned over corruption charges, reported the Al Ahram Arabic daily.
Sameh Al Turguman reportedly tendered his resignation to the prime minister after a member of Parliament officially questioned the government over violations of stock market regulations, and said he planned to refer the case to the prosecutor general.
Ebeid said that business at the stock market was “normal,” and that the technical, economic and financial work was going on as usual.
The premier added that he referred Turguman to the prosecutor general after receiving denials of any violations, both written and verbal, from stock market officials.
“I decided to uncover the truth by referring the matter to the prosecutor general, who is neutral and fair,” he said.
Uncofirmed reports have said that Turguman’s resignation has been rejected by the premier pending the prosecutor general's resolution of the case.
The opposition Al Wafd newspaper said Saturday that the Nasserist opposition lawmaker Kamal Ahmed had raised many questions about administrative violations at the stock market, including discrepancies in salaries and wasting of public funds.
Despite the fact that the MP's plan to question Turguman before Parliament was applauded by lawmakers, and the minister of economy failed to give convincing answers on the matter, the proposed interpellation was dropped when the ruling National Democratic Party used its parliamentary majority to win a vote on the idea.
This did not stop Ahmad, who repeated the accusations against the stock market management during a television debate in which he went head-to-head with Turguman.
The MP ended the debate by announcing that he would soon refer the alleged violations to the prosecutor general, a fact that prompted the premier to pre-empt the move and order the referral of the case to the prosecutor general himself.
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