Will the newly-elected parliament last? Gamal Essam El-Din explores the assembly's legal and constitutional status in the wake of election violations and court appeals The Muslim Brotherhood's electoral prowess has not been the parliamentary polls' only surprise. Heads also turned when, for the first time in Egypt's parliamentary history, elections were postponed in three constituencies -- Itsah in Fayoum, Shebin Al-Qanatir in Qalioubiya, and Al-Manshiya in Alexandria -- in compliance with administrative court orders. The court orders were issued based on appeals submitted by three candidates. One said judges made mistakes counting votes, while the other two said competing candidates ignored court orders to change their status from "workers" to "professionals". According to Intessar Nessim, secretary- general of the Higher Parliamentary Elections Commission (HPEC), the court orders were final. "Since no one filed counter appeals, the elections in the three constituencies had to be postponed," Nessim said. Strangely enough, the HPEC simultaneously chose to ignore several administrative court orders declaring other constituencies' results null and void. These included rulings against results in at least 10 constituencies in the governorates of Cairo, Giza and Qalioubiya. Election appeals are filed with either administrative courts or the Cassation Court. While administrative court appeals can be used to undermine the constitutionality of the People's Assembly, those issued by the Cassation Court are proffered to the assembly itself for the final say. The administrative court recently warned that ignoring its orders could cast serious doubts about the legality and constitutionality of the incoming assembly. "Ignoring these rulings could result in an assembly with more 'professional' deputies than 'workers' deputies, thus leading to the dissolution of parliament," the court said. According to the constitution, 50 per cent of parliamentary seats must go to 'workers' or farmers. Amr Hashem Rabie, a parliamentary analyst with Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said ignoring court orders on parliamentary elections would always leave parliament standing on shaky ground. "When people see that there is no respect for court orders, they start losing confidence in parliament." Rabie said candidates could use the rulings to ask for financial compensation and request that the Supreme Constitutional Court dissolve parliament altogether. Talk of dissolving parliament has its roots in more than just court orders and irregularities. If the stunning success of the Muslim Brotherhood (who may garner some 100 seats in total) ends up being a thorn in the regime's side, "the NDP-supported regime will do its best to see that the coming parliament be dissolved as soon as possible," suggested ACPSS's Nabil Abdel-Fattah. If, however, parliamentary relations between the NDP and the Brotherhood end up smoother than expected, the idea of dissolving parliament -- despite the irregularities and court orders -- will be completely ruled out, Abdel-Fattah said. Thus, the question of whether or nor to dissolve parliament would appear to depend on what Brotherhood MPs plan on doing in the assembly itself. Munir Fakhri Abdel-Nour, the outgoing parliamentary spokesman for the liberal-oriented Wafd Party, predicted that the incoming assembly wouldn't last more than two years. "In the outgoing assembly," Abdel-Nour said, "it was very difficult to deal with 17 Muslim Brotherhood MPs, in terms of their insistence on raising issues like the application of Sharia (Islamic law) or banning alcohol. How, then, will the incoming parliament deal with some 90 or 100 Brotherhood MPs?" Some observers think the Interior Ministry chose to deliberately ignore the court orders. Brotherhood leader Mahdi Akef suggested that the ministry was planning to use the rulings as a tool to dissolve parliament as a whole. Others, like prominent Shura Council member Shawqi El-Sayed, said the assembly would complete its five-year lifespan. "President Hosni Mubarak is not fond of dissolving parliaments," El-Sayed said. Mubarak was only compelled to do so twice, he said, when the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled -- in 1987 and 1990 -- that those respective assemblies were unconstitutional.
