The House of Representatives approved the ending of judicial supervision of general elections by 2024 this week, 10 years after the new constitution was passed in 2014. The step came after MPs voted in favour of a new law creating a National Electoral Commission (NEC) responsible for supervising all kinds of elections and referendums in Egypt. Parliamentary Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said the law was in line with articles 208 and 209 of the constitution, which state that “an NEC should be created to supervise and monitor the country's elections — parliamentary, presidential and municipal — and referendums.” “The law also aims to implement Article 210 of the constitution, which stipulates that full judicial supervision of polls should be phased out within 10 years, or by the end of 2024,” he said. Abdel-Aal argued that “full judicial supervision of polls cannot continue forever, and for this reason the new NEC has been created to make up for this.” “If anybody believes that full judicial supervision is necessary to guarantee that polls are carried out with integrity, let me tell him that he is wrong,” Abdel-Aal said. He argued that “the two revolutions of 25 January and 30 June made it difficult, if not impossible, for any political regime to risk rigging polls. After 10 years the NEC should have got the experience required to run election affairs without full judicial supervision.” In spite of Abdel-Aal's words, MPs were sharply divided on Article 34 of the new law, which stipulates that full judicial supervision of elections should come to an end in 2024. Independent MP Mustafa Bakri said people trusted the judges and as a result “Article 34 can never be accepted in its present form.” “Most of the Egyptian people believe that polls will be rigged if they are not held under full judicial supervision,” Bakri said, warning that “the stipulation will cast a shadow over the integrity of polls in Egypt.” In response, Abdel-Aal said “any change in Article 34 will be considered void and unconstitutional. I want to indicate that Article 34 will only eliminate the ‘judge for every ballot box' principle, and that it will not eliminate general judicial supervision of polls.” According to Abdel-Aal, the NEC will make sure that senior judges are in charge of supervising main polling stations and ensuring that civil society organisations can participate in monitoring polls. “But the principle of a ‘judge for every ballot box' cannot continue forever,” he said. Mohamed Al-Sewidi, head of the pro-government coalition Support Egypt, said he agreed that full judicial supervision of elections should be phased out within 10 years. He argued that “Article 210 of the constitution is not against judicial supervision of polls. The article in its second paragraph states that the NEC can use any number of judges it likes to make sure that polls are held in an atmosphere of integrity and transparency,” he added. He also argued that “as the NEC will be mainly composed of the country's senior judges, it will make sure that polls are fair and free. The NEC will also make sure over the next 10 years that there are rules that guarantee that polls are held free from irregularities or rigging practices,” Al-Sewidi said. Ahmed Helmi Al-Sherif, deputy chairman of parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that “when the NEC law came up for debate for the first time last March, MPs wondered why Article 34 stipulating full judicial supervision should be eliminated by 2024.” “The proposed Article 34 states that general polls and referendums should be held under full judicial supervision without stipulating that this comes to an end in 2024 or 10 years after the constitution was passed in January 2014,” Al-Sherif said. He indicated that “due to sharp divisions, the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee decided that legal experts from parliament and the government should discuss Article 34 again. But after a three-month study, all agreed that Article 34 should impose the 10-year stipulation because otherwise it will be in violation of Article 210 of the constitution,” he said. Al-Sherif argued that “Egypt is among the very few countries that impose full judicial supervision of polls. This is not to mention the fact that the imposition of full judicial supervision is not in line with the creation of the NEC,” he said, adding that “we have a choice: if you approve the creation of the NEC you should approve the elimination of full judicial supervision of polls within 10 years.” He said the Constituent Assembly that drafted the constitution in 2014 was clear that judicial supervision could not continue forever and that the NEC would be created to monitor polls without the difficulties and financial costs incurred by the “judge for every ballot box” rule. Article 34 of the NEC law was approved during a plenary session of parliament on 21 June. The law in general was approved this week. However, the article did not go down well with left-wing MPs who form the 25-30 member opposition group in parliament. They said in a statement that “the elimination of judicial supervision put an end to the integrity of elections in Egypt. It is a process that began in 2005 and led to changing the political landscape,” the statement said. Left-wing MP Khaled Youssef said “Article 34 directs a deafening blow at the ideals of the two revolutions of 25 January and 30 June that used the slogans of clean polls and full judicial supervision.” Osama Heikal, head of parliament's Media and Culture committee, said “Article 210 of the constitution could be amended to eliminate the 10-year stipulation related to full judicial supervision. If we reach 2024 without having full trust in the NEC, I think it will be necessary for the constitution to be amended to impose full judicial supervision forever,” he said. According to the law, the NEC will be an independent authority responsible for organising general elections and referendums in Egypt. “Its duties will range from reviewing electoral rolls on a periodic basis, making sure they are free from any irregularities, and holding polls and announcing results,” a joint committee report on the law said. It added that the country's electoral laws could not be amended without consulting the NEC. The law states that the NEC will be headed by the chairman of the Court of Cassation. “The NEC's board will include 10 members, one head and senior judges affiliated with the Court of Cassation, the Appeal Court, the State Council, the State Cases Authority and the Administrative Prosecution Authority,” the committee report said, adding that “all these will be selected by the Higher Council for Judges and endorsed by the president of the republic.” “Their term of office will be non-renewable for six years, and they must be six years under the retirement age when they join the NEC board,” it said. The NEC's decisions can be appealed before the administrative courts.
