10 - 16 January 2002
Issue No.568
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 10 - 16 January 2002 Issue No.568 |
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Judging the polls
The government rallied this week behind a new legislative amendment aimed at limiting judicial supervision in the forthcoming municipal elections. Gamal Essam El-Din reports
The People's Assembly swiftly approved this week a controversial amendment to the political rights law that will limit judicial supervision in April's municipal elections to the main polling stations. Auxiliary polling stations, numbering 45,000, will be monitored by state and public business employees.
The amendment, to article 24 of the 1956 law on political rights, was approved within 24 hours of its submission by Abul-Naga El-Mihrizi, a deputy of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) for the upper Egyptian governorate of Qena.
El-Mihrizi, a 45-year-old lawyer, explained that the amendment is aimed at relieving judges of the heavy burden of supervising auxiliary polling stations in local council elections.
In the debate held on Sunday, the government and NDP deputies clashed with opposition and independent deputies over the impact of El-Mihrizi's amendment on political life. Twenty-six opposition and independent MPs opposed the amendment -- the largest number to oppose a law since the existing parliament opened in December 2000. Five independent MPs abstained from voting.
At the forefront of those opposing the amendment were 17 MPs of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation. Brotherhood MPs have run in recent elections as independents. Gamal Heshmat, a prominent Brotherhood deputy, described the amendment as "a regressive step on Egypt's path towards full democracy." The amendment, Heshmat argued, was clearly directed at intimidating opposition and Brotherhood figures from contesting next April's municipal elections. Heshmat, along with the other opposing MPs, called upon President Hosni Mubarak not to endorse the amendment.
Minister of Justice Farouk Seif El-Nasr praised the amendment, adding, "The government welcomes laws proposed by MPs as long as they are of a progressive nature and based on sound facts. El-Mihrizi should be proud of his proposal."
Seif El-Nasr argued that El-Mihrizi's amendment is constitutional. "First, article 88 of the constitution clearly states that complete judicial supervision applies only to the elections of the People's Assembly." However, Seif El-Nasr acknowledged that complete judicial supervision was extended to include last June's mid-term elections of the Shura Council (a consultative upper house without legislative powers). "This was due to the fact that the constitution requires that the Shura Council share responsibility with the assembly for debating some laws." In this context, Seif El-Nasr emphasised that local councils (according to articles 161,162,163 of the constitution) are just executive councils. "They clearly lack any powers to legislate or supervise the government's performance."
Seif El-Nasr also highlighted the logistical challenges of organising complete judicial supervision of local council elections. "During the People's Assembly's three-stage elections, 6,582 judges supervised 15,247 auxiliary polling stations."
April's local council elections will determine who fills a staggering 49,820 seats. Complete judicial supervision of polling stations would tie up many of Egypt's 7,879 judges for at least 10 months. Seif El- Nasr said, "This number cannot supervise elections every now and then. To do so would negatively affect their main job."
Deputies tried their utmost to prevent Speaker Fathi Sorour from taking the final vote. Mohamed Mursi, spokesman for Brotherhood MPs, cautioned Sorour that, "the vote will be considered invalid because only 150 deputies were present." According to article 107 of the constitution, at least two thirds of assembly deputies -- 303 MPs -- must be present for a vote to be valid. However, Sorour rejected Mursi's argument "because it was not submitted in writing."
Gamal Heshmat, another Brotherhood MP, accused the NDP of ramming El- Mihrizi's amendment through parliament "to prevent the opposition from running in the elections of local councils and ensure success for its candidates." Youssef Wali, minister of agriculture and the NDP's secretary-general, emphasised that, "the NDP is not planning to prevent the opposition from running in local elections. I have close friendships with the chairmen of all opposition parties and they know that their candidates are more than welcome to contest the elections," Wali said.
Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour, parliamentary spokesman for the Wafd Party, argued that the amendment was not likely to be well-received abroad. "Passing this law at this particular time will be viewed by political observers in the West and East as a setback to democracy. Those people already think that a lack of democracy in this region is a major reason for the spread of terrorism," said Abdel-Nour. Speaker Sorour intervened, "Do you think that what is going on now in America is in accordance with democracy?" he said.
The opposition also insisted the government should not give itself an absolute right in interpreting the constitution. "Numerous requests for judicial supervision of elections show that the people do not trust state authorities and employees to supervise the elections," Mursi said. Mohamed Shaaban, a leftist MP, said that several courts ruled in the past few years that half of the seats in Cairo's city council were obtained by rigging the 1996 elections. "That is why the elections need to be fully supervised," Shaaban said.
"Opposition and NDP deputies, however, agreed that local councils are in dire need of reform. The councils are the true schools for learning the first lessons of democracy," said NDP deputy Zakaria Azmi.
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