Egyptian Lawyer Files Lawsuit Claiming IMF Deal as Unconstitutional

Some believe the approved $12 billion IMF loan over three years will hurt Egypt in the long run, which is why one Egyptian lawyer has allegedly filed a lawsuit against President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, believing that the IMF deal “violates the Constitution.”

According to Aswat Masriya, lawyer Ali Ayoub announced on Facebook that he has filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court against Presiden Sisi, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Finance Minister Amr El Garhy, and Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer, claiming the agreement was “unlawful as it should have been reviewed by the parliament.” According to Article No. 127 of the Egyptian constitution, the executive authority may not contract a loan, obtain funding, or commit itself to a project that is not listed in the approved state budget entailing expenditure from the state treasury for a subsequent period, except with the approval of the House of Representatives.

According to Ayoub, previous loans have been discussed by Egypt’s parliament with the exception of the World Bank’s $500 million loan and the Japanese government loan to complete the construction of Egypt’s Grand Museum.

In order to secure the IMF loan, Egypt was forced to adopt drastic economic policies, which Ayoub believed should have been approved by parliament, claiming that "The parliament is facing a political dilemma due its absence from the structural changes done to the Egyptian government's economic policy last week."

No official statements have been released about the lawsuit beside Ayoub's claims; however, this lawyer was also one of the many involved in the lawsuit demanding the annulment of the Tiran and Sanafir border agreement, which the court approved.