CAIRO: Although several rights organization have pledged to monitor the upcoming elections of the Egyptian Judges' Club, almost 2,000 Egyptian judges, who are employed in neighboring Arab countries, will not be able to vote due to the club's limited facilities. According to the secretary general of the judges' club, Hisham Geneina, who is running for president in the Feb. 13 elections, the equipment necessary for the club to receive votes by Egyptian judges abroad is beyond its budget. "Egyptian judges employed abroad will have to return on their own expense to cast their votes, which in most cases is impossible since it is difficult for them to take time off work, he added, stressing that this will influence the results of the elections. On the other hand, secretary general of the Higher Judicial Council, Mohamed Eid Salem, told Daily News Egypt that the absence of Egyptian judges abroad will have no effect on the outcome of the election. Candidates for the presidency of the Judges' Club include Geneina, representing the reformists, Ahmed El Zend, current president of the Appeals Court, Mahmoud Zein El Din and Mohamed Mansy Abou Halima, current president of Dessouk's Judges' Club, Kafr El Sheikh. There are speculations that both Zein El Din and Zend will step down leaving either Geneina or Halima to succeed outgoing president Zakareya Abdel Aziz for a three-year term. Sherif Helal, head of the Arab Foundation for the Support of Civil Society Organizations, told Daily News Egypt that not enabling Egyptian judges employed abroad to vote will undermine the legitimacy of the entire elections. "The Ministry of Justice should ensure that those judges vote through, for example, ballot boxes placed at the Egyptian embassies of all countries The foundation is currently looking into the legality of not enabling judges abroad to vote in the poll. According to press reports, 20 percent of the total 11,000 Egyptian judges choose to work "on loan in Gulf countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia seeking higher salaries and better living conditions. Unable to extend the contract between the Egyptian government and these countries, which facilitates their employment overseas and secures a job back when they return, these judges often opt to quit their Egypt posts altogether. This leads to an understaffed judicial system and consequently floods the courts with unresolved cases.
