Judicial squabbles

Alexandria Judges' Club is more divided than ever, reports Mona El-Nahhas

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Alexandria Judges' Club is due to hold a general assembly tomorrow amid an increasingly tense atmosphere. The general assembly, originally convened to review elections for a third of the seats on the club's board, now has a far more controversial agenda.

Under club rules a third of the seats on the board are contested annually. Since last month, candidates belonging to the reformist group of judges have been readying to stand against nominees from the camp of Ismail El-Basyouni, the club's current chairman. Three of the four seats being contested had been occupied by El-Basyouni's supporters.

If the current chair loses the seats on the 14-member board El-Basyouni's group will no longer command a majority. The electoral battle is expected to be fierce since it will determine who has the upper hand on the board.

Preparations for the Friday polls had been continuing until the announcement earlier this week that Judges Mahmoud Mekki, Ashraf El-Baroudi, Ashraf Ramadan and Ahmed Mehana, all reformist candidates, intended to boycott the poll.

"We are not ready to take part in such a scandalous election," they said in a joint statement submitted to the club board. "Membership of the club board was never one of our targets. It does not matter to us if we lose in the polls. What really concerns us is that the law is respected."

The reformist candidates have accused El-Basyouni of illegally interfering in the process of the elections. "The aim is to exclude reformist judges from the club board," Mekki told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Mekki has charged that El-Basyouni, in violation of the club's statutes, registered 161 judges on the voters' list just a few days before the elections. They also say they were prevented from reviewing the lists themselves. Nor, they charge, has El-Basyouni taken seniority into account in forming the committees assigned with supervising the elections.

A decree issued by the club board assigned El-Basyouni as chairman of the general committee supervising the polls. The committee was already chaired by reformist judge Ezzat Sherbash, who had no choice but to quit in protest at the move.

Announcing their decision not to take part in the polls, the four reformist judges vowed to expose all the infringements committed by El-Basyouni and his group during Friday's general assembly. The reformist judges have called for a neutral committee to be formed to review voters' lists and fix a new date for polls. Should they fail to win the approval of Friday's general assembly, the four have threatened to file a lawsuit contesting the legality of the electoral process and its results.

Former chairman of the Alexandria Judges'zA Club Mahmoud El-Khodeiri, a leading proponent of reform, says the illegal electoral procedures taken by the club's board harmed the reputation of the judiciary and would cause the public to lose trust in court rulings.

Since elections in January 2008 the club has been embroiled in internal disputes, dividing board members into two camps. One is led by reformist judges while the other supports El-Basyouni who is rumoured to enjoy government backing.