CAIRO - A group of judges started Saturday a campaign to collect signatures from their colleagues as well as prosecutors calling on Chief of the Supreme Judicial Council Serri Seyam to let Egyptian judges stay away from supervising future elections. The judges spearheading the campaign have composed a memorandum to be signed by their colleagues, including violations committed against them during the recent parliamentary elections, The Egyptian Gazette has learnt. "Egypt's judges were shocked by ignoring judicial decisions and court rulings during the legislative elections as well as the harassment they had received during the process," said the memorandum. Egypt held the mid-term elections of the Shura Council (The Upper House of the Parliament) last June while the People's Assembly's vote was held on November 28 and December 5. Both votes were marred by several irregularities, which were admitted by authorities. "Judges never supervise the process of elections. They only count the votes and declare the result. Any other 'honest' authority can do this," the memorandum said. Judge Geneidi el-Wakil, who chairs the Minya Criminal Court in Upper Egypt, called on the Judges' Club, a judicial union, in its general assembly to take a certain stance on the issue. "Judges should have a general assembly meeting on whether to completely supervise the electoral process or stay away from the whole process," he said. Egypt will have the second competitive presidential elections in 2011. It's not clear whether President Hosni Mubarak, 82, will seek a sixth term as officials from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) said there presidential candidate would be announced by mid-2011. Another group of judges believe it would be very difficult for the general assembly to decide they should stay away from the elections. "Judges never violate the law by supervising the election. They play the role drawn by the Constitution and law," said Judge Abdel Azim el-Ashri, a newly elected deputy head of the Judges' Club. Constitutional amendments, passed in 2007, transferred official oversight of ballot boxes from the judiciary to a Government-controlled electoral commission. The judges posted at the polls in 2005 had been crucial allies in the opposition's quest for freer polls.
