The People's Assembly may not be dissolved though a Supreme Constitutional Court ruling consigns many members to the political wasteland, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Commentators seem agreed that the ruling issued by the Supreme Constitutional Court on 17 August will not result in the dissolution of the People's Assembly though the court has ordered that MPs who have reached 35 without doing their military service, or who have no legal reason for exemption, must be suspended. Estimates of the number of MPs to whom the court's verdict applies range from 22 to 50. The court ruled that even though Law 38/1972 states that "candidates over 35 years in age are exempted from offering certificates regarding either the performance or legal exemption of military service" it did not give them licence to stand for elections. "This article was drafted because it was believed at the time that people who had reached this age would have completed their military service or would have been legally excused," the court said. The court ruling comes after three years of intensive deliberations over the legality of the positions of a large number of MPs. Since the December 2000 elections the People's Assembly has been subjected to almost 1,000 appeals contesting the legality of the membership of deputies, the majority from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), on grounds ranging from holding dual nationality to failure to perform military service. This latter issue proved the most controversial, and effects the largest number of MPs. Parliament Speaker Fathi Sorour asked Justice Minister Farouk Seif El-Nasr in early 2001 to refer the issue to the Supreme Constitutional Court for a final and binding ruling. Two years later that ruling has been issued, raising many questions and leaving the People's Assembly in disarray. Although Sorour has said that the constituencies affected by the ruling must have re-elections, the numbers involved are sufficiently large, argue some observers, as to merit the dissolving of parliament and the holding of fresh elections across the board. The Wafd Party has long supported such a move. Its mouthpiece, Al-Wafd, said that such a move was necessary not only on legal grounds but also because of the dire performance of the existing Assembly. It suggested the ruling has come as a direct result of the NDP's monopoly of political life. Many political observers agree. One, requesting anonymity, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the ruling is symptomatic of the overall degeneration in Egyptian parliamentary life. "Since 1979 the NDP has resorted to all kinds of illegal means -- rigging elections and fielding unqualified candidates -- to tighten its grip on parliament and political life with absolutely no regard for democratic principles." Atef El-Banna, professor of constitutional law at Cairo University, told the Weekly that although the ruling does not demand the dissolving of parliament it exposes the constitutional discrepancies under which parliamentary life is conducted. A comprehensive programme of political reforms is urgently needed if the integrity of elections is to be guaranteed, and parliament strengthened, he argued. Meanwhile Sorour has indicated that for the ruling to be implemented the Assembly will have first to determine to which MPs it applies. "Parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee has to examine each case individually to ensure that the court ruling is correctly applied," Sorour said. The committee is expected to begin its task next week, contacting the Defence Ministry for details on the status of MPs' military service. Sorour said the committee will then issue a report to be submitted for discussion when parliament reconvenes in the second week of November. According to Sorour the number of MPs who have so far been shown to have failed to perform military service is 21. He did not expect any objections in the vote on implementing the court's ruling and the dropping of the membership of affected MPs. Yet even this position has attracted criticism from observers, who point out that the voting could itself be illegal given that Supreme Constitutional Court rulings must be automatically implemented. Mohamed Moussa, chairman of the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee told the Weekly that the court ruling did not constitute a plea for dissolving parliament. "The number of MPs who are expected to lose their seats because of this ruling is not expected to exceed five per cent. To dissolve parliament the ruling must apply to two thirds of MPs," Moussa said. In the last 16 years three parliaments -- those formed in 1984, 1987 and 1990 -- have been dissolved following rulings by the court that they were elected unconstitutionally. For their part MPs have expressed concern that the ruling will prevent those MPs to which it applies from standing in future elections. It is, argue many, "a kind of political death penalty".
