Recently concluded People's Assembly elections "ended poorly" due to the lack of judicial supervision, former justice minister Mahmoud Abu al-Lil said on Tuesday. “The polls did not have to be conducted with this degree of political stupidity,” Abu al-Lil told reporters at a ceremony in Alexandria honoring artistic and political figures. Abu al-Lil went on to cite the events that had tarnished the electoral process, including judicial pronouncements by the Administrative Court changing the standards by which candidates are selected and the cancellation of elections in several voting districts. Actions such as these, he said, threatened to "render the incoming parliament illegitimate"--a grave prospect in light of the fact that the new assembly will be responsible for selecting Egypt's next president. Abu al-Lil also criticized the ruling party's practice of fielding government ministers as parliamentary candidates. Considering the many responsibilities associated with ministerial portfolios, he argued, it was not helpful that they be burdened with additional tasks. Ministers' electoral successes in the parliamentary polls, he added, should not be seen as proof of their popularity. The former minister also noted that he had not voiced support for any particular parliamentary candidate in light of the "unhealthy" nature of the elections. In response to a question on the effects of judicial rulings on parliament's constitutional legitimacy and effectiveness, Abu al-Lil expressed hope that outstanding problems might be eventually resolved. He went on to call on President Hosni Mubarak to carry out earlier promises to hold fair and transparent elections. The former minister also called for the reinstatement of judicial supervision over the electoral process in order to guarantee transparency. While judicial supervision would not have prevented all cases of electoral fraud, he conceded, it nevertheless would have reduced it substantially. He concluded by pointing out that the role of the state-run High Elections Commission, which lacks both judicial authority and expertise, was limited to announcing final election results. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
