Cairo After 75 years of implementing the relationship of the relationship between the owner and the tenant, the Egyptian government began to launch a new draft law that ends the old lease contracts, according to the rule of the Constitutional Court, which was considered the stabilization of the rental value in violation of the constitution.
The new law proposes raising the minimum rent to 1,000 pounds in cities and 500 in villages, with an annual increase of 15% for a period of 5 years.
The most dangerous – according to observers – that the project gives the owner the right to evacuate the tenant after the transitional period unless new conditions are agreed upon, with the possibility of resorting to the judiciary to issue a decision to expel millions of tenants to old real estate, most of them in the major provinces such as Greater Cairo, Alexandria and Qalyubia, according to official data.
Experts warn that these amendments may expose about 6 million Egyptians to the risk of evacuation, which threatens social and economic crises in light of the crisis in the country, and tension sparks have begun to appear in publications calling for protests amid mutual incitement.
The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El -Sisi called in a previous government speech to reconsider the old rents, stressing that the beneficiaries left, and the losses resulting from leaving the matter as it is in more than one trillion pounds (the dollar equals about 51 pounds).
Wrapping
Mahmoud Al -Assal, head of the National Council for Human Rights and the Legal Adviser to the Union of tenants, rejected the draft government law that reorganizes the relationship between the owner and the tenant, and considered it an appeal in the state of law, the constitution and institutions.
He explained that the government “falsely promotes its dependence on the two rulings of the Constitutional Court for the years 2002 and 2024, as the first judgment was limited to the unconstitutionality of the rental relationship of the grandchildren, and it was limited to the children, while the second ruling dealt with the unconstitutionality of stabilizing the rental value, without addressing the issue of evacuation and expulsion, which leads the current draft law.”
Al -Assal stressed that if the government was serious in preserving social stability, it would have committed to the scope of the rulings of the Constitutional Court without overcoming it, indicating that he does not object to an increase in the rental value provided that they are logical and balanced, but he refuses to ignore the judicial ruling and impose unfair increases ending with the expulsion of millions of Egyptians.
He pointed out that the timing of the law in light of the economic crisis represents an additional burden on the rented families, which will not be able to bear the new burdens, which exposes them to expulsion after the expiration of the transition.
Al -Assal described the draft law as “tampering with civil peace and the provisions of the constitutional judiciary with absolute authenticity”, criticizing in his talk to Al -Jazeera Net the government’s talk about a “community dialogue”, in light of pressure from the gatherings of interests that seek to pass the law despite its great social risks.
The legal advisor and lawyer, Mahmoud Attia, described the draft law regulating the relationship between the owner and the tenant as a “constitutional and legal catastrophe”, stressing that the legal norms and the provisions of the Cassation and Supreme Constitutional Courts prevent prejudice to stable contracts.
Attia – the defender of the rights of tenants – criticized what he described as the government’s attempt to pass a law that the provisions of the Constitutional Court did not address from near or far, especially with regard to the liberalization of rental contracts and the expulsion of millions of tenants, which was considered by the most dangerous axis in the draft law.
Attia mocked the proposal to establish a government fund worth 200 billion pounds to help the tenants, considering it “unrealistic” in light of the stifling economic crisis, asking in his talk to Al -Jazeera Net, “Where will the government come from this money?”
The spokesman criticized the proposed amendments to increase the rents of the shops 10 times, as well as raising the value of housing rent by 1000%, considering this “an unlikely burden for citizens.”
He explained that the housing companies and the pools of interests that dominate the residential towers, especially in central Cairo, are exerting extensive pressure on the state to pass the law, which puts the tenant between the government hammer and the anvil of these companies.
Attia called for the tenants to have a unified voice by submitting complaints and petitions to the authorities and the president to stop the law, calling for the abolition of the third axis of evacuation as a unconstitutional, and that the rental increases should be logical and balanced in a way that preserves social peace and prevents the displacement of millions of Egyptians.
Cloning
In turn, the professor of political economy Abdel -Nabi Abdel -Muttalib warned that the proposed amendment to the law of the relationship between the owner and the tenant – if approved – will exacerbate the economic, social and political crisis in Egypt, similar to his talk to Al -Jazeera Net, its impact on the crisis that raised a similar law in the nineties, which led to the transformation of millions of agricultural acres into lands for construction, violating serious economic consequences that the country still suffers from today.
Abdel -Muttalib pointed out that the government did not observe any social or economic dimensions in the new law, but rather aims mainly to market the housing units that he recently built and remained closed, at the expense of millions of tenants who may find themselves in the street after 5 years.
He explained that the government did not offer any real alternatives or facilities, and did not guarantee facilitated apartments for the affected people, which warns of serious consequences, especially on the stable workers in its areas, which may be forced to move to places that do not fit the nature of its work, as happened in previous cases such as Duwaika and Nasr City, which led to the return of many to their original areas in search of livelihood.
He added that the amendment will lead to high inflation, the collapse of purchasing power, and will harm the national income, by converting millions of workers into unemployed, and closing small and micro activities, warning of possible disturbances as a result of the government’s ignorance of the critical economic reality.
Economic and social repercussions
For his part, economist Hani Aboul Fotouh believes that the new draft law to regulate the relationship between the owner and the tenant puts an end to a long struggle, and addresses the confusion resulting from the lifeless lease that contradicts the constitution and Sharia.
He pointed out that the law will restore the rights of thousands of owners, and provide them with economic stability after depriving them of benefiting their units, which enables them to marry their children and improve their living conditions, stressing in his talk to Al -Jazeera Net that “the current situation has been overcome by conditions and developments.”
Despite his support for the draft law, Abu Al -Fotouh acknowledged the existence of economic and social repercussions that must be taken into consideration, calling on the government and civil society to protect the affected by providing housing units on facilitated conditions, and directing them towards low -rent areas, and indicated that the government possesses millions of closed units, which gives it the ability to absorb the possible negative impacts.
For his part, the representative of the Housing Committee in the House of Representatives, Tariq Shukri, confirmed that there is an urgent need to amend the rental relationship after 75 years of the old law, considering that the draft law comes in implementation of the ruling of the Constitutional Court of the necessity of reforming this situation.
He added that societal discussions will be held to reach a balanced formula that satisfies all parties, with the possibility of amendments to the text of the law, and he explained in press statements that the House of Representatives will hold hearings before the final vote, providing an opportunity to review and amend the law in a way that takes into account the social and economic dimensions of the file.
