Lakah's never-ending woes

Last week's court order against MP Rami Lakah appears to have opened a Pandora's box of controversies. Gamal Essam El-Din reports
The Supreme Administrative Court's ruling last week that the parliamentary membership of businessman Rami Lakah be declared null and void on the grounds that he has dual nationality came as no surprise to parliamentary and legal pundits. And yet, it has caused sharp divisions over an array of thorny issues including parliament's implementation of the court ruling, its implications for other MPs with dual nationality and the anticipated by-elections in Cairo's Al- Azbaqiya district, hitherto represented by Lakah.
Fathi Sorour, speaker of the People's Assembly, took observers by surprise when he argued that the ruling, although final and handed down by a supreme judicial authority, did not apply to other MPs with "dual nationality." According to Sorour, the rulings handed down by administrative courts are binding only on the parties to the dispute. "In this respect, we should draw a distinction between the rulings handed down by the Supreme Administrative Court and those handed down by the Supreme Constitutional Court. The former apply only to the parties to the dispute while the latter aim to lay down general principles that should be upheld by all," said Sorour.
Some constitutional law professors objected to Sorour's argument. Cairo University's Yehia El-Gamal said the rulings handed down by the Supreme Administrative Court should be taken as guiding principles that apply to all sectors of society. "In delivering its ruling, the court affirmed that dual nationality means dual loyalty. This is not just a ruling but is also a guiding principle that should apply to all," El-Gamal contended.
El-Gamal and Sorour also differed over how the ruling against Lakah should be implemented. El-Gamal argued that the court's ruling does not require the assembly's approval and should be implemented automatically. "It is a final ruling with immediate effect," El-Gamal said. Sorour, by contrast, announced that the ruling will be voted on first by the assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Committee and then in a plenary session to be held in the second half of November. "It is a constitutional necessity and we cannot ignore it," Sorour said.
More importantly, the ruling against Lakah has rekindled the debate over the issue of dual nationality. More rulings by the Supreme Administrative Court are expected to affect two other MPs widely rumoured to hold dual nationality. These are Mohamed Ahmed Saleh (Egyptian-German) and Talaat Mutawie (Egyptian-American). Saleh told Al-Ahram Weekly that he will be spared Lakah's predicament because he had surrendered his German passport. "Until October 1999, I was considered a German citizen because in Germany citizens are barred from holding any other nationality," he said. Saleh, an independent deputy for Daqahliya governorate's Talkha district, added that he gave up his German citizenship and regained his Egyptian nationality immediately after he started to make preparations for contesting the elections. Rifaat El-Rimisi, Saleh's major rival in last year's elections, told the Weekly that Saleh gave up his German nationality only after joining parliament. "This means that he was German when he contested the elections, and this is ample reason for the court to nullify his membership," said El-Rimisi.
Mutawie, an independent MP for Daqahliya governorate's Bilqas constituency, conceded that he is an Egyptian-American citizen. But he insisted that the ruling against Lakah should be applied to Lakah only.
There are also unconfirmed reports that four other deputies are dual nationals. They are Economy Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali (Egyptian-American), Housing Minister Ibrahim Suleiman (Egyptian-Canadian), businessman Mohamed Abul-Enein (Egyptian-Italian) and Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour (Egyptian-French).
Speaker Sorour also took the legal community by surprise when he announced that the ruling against Lakah should not be used as justification to amend the nationality and immigration law with the objective of allowing persons with dual nationality to contest elections. But El-Gamal told the Weekly that the law should be amended to clearly state that citizens with dual nationality are barred from standing for election.
The ruling against Lakah was in large part the fruit of the vigorous and persistent efforts of his staunch rival, Abdel-Ahad Gamaleddin. Gamaleddin, a prominent lawyer and a former deputy-speaker of the People's Assembly, told the Weekly that he pursued his case against Lakah as a matter of principle rather than as a ploy to regain his Al-Azbaqiya seat. Gamaleddin, however, revealed that he plans to compete for the Al-Azbaqiya seat in any future by-election. "The ruling against Lakah proves that money can't buy power and authority in all cases. I do hope that I will be nominated again by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in the same constituency," Gamaleddin said. By- elections for the Al-Azbaqiya seat are expected to be held in January.
In the meantime, the 38-year-old Lakah, a Roman Catholic businessman and independent MP, vowed that the court ruling will not put an end to his political and business ambitions. "They managed to nullify my membership by a court ruling, but they will never be able to nullify my Egyptian nationality," Lakah told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper. Lakah, who has been in Paris and London for the past few months, also announced that he will return to Cairo soon.
Rumour has it that some of Lakah's parliamentary colleagues were successful in persuading him not to resign his parliamentary seat. Ragab Hemeida, the sole representative of the opposition Liberal Party in the People's Assembly, revealed to the Weekly that he is one of several deputies trying to convince Lakah to relinquish his French nationality in order to be eligible to contest the Al-Azbaqiya by-election. Sorour has said that if Lakah were to relinquish his French nationality, he will be eligible to stand for the Al-Azbaqiya by-election.
In a related development, the US-based Federation of Egyptian (FEE) Expatriates announced full support for, and sympathy with, Lakah. Mohamed Rayan, FEE's secretary- general, said that more than five million Egyptian expatriates were extremely aggravated by the anti-Lakah ruling. "We support Lakah because the FEE believes that the constitution endows all Egyptians, including those holding another nationality, with equal and full political rights, especially the right of contesting elections and joining parliament," Rayan said.
Financially, Lakah is also facing tough times as four banks, led by the Banque du Caire, are preparing to take legal action against him after his group of companies defaulted for the third time on payment of his LE2 billion in debts.
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On the edge 30 August - 5 September 2001
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