Legislative elections : Judges supervise the voting process

For the first time in seven years in Egypt, a bill submitted by the Opposition is approved by a parliamentary committee

A committee of the People's Assembly approved in early February a bill submitted by the Opposition. According to the bill, the judges will be responsible for overseeing the voting at polling stations during parliamentary elections, to combat electoral fraud. The Department of Justice would replace that of the Interior for the control of elections in November.

The leader of the left party "al-Tagamu" (The Gathering) Khaled Mohei Eddine, welcomed the approval of this bill coming from his party. "No for the police, welcome to the judges", he said at the People's Assembly. On long run, the bill could impact on the national political system. Until now the judges did count the votes at the constituency level. Rest to know if Egypt have theoritically enough judges to supervise all voting offices.

According to Mohei Eddine, this Bill will help to deal with electoral fraud in all its forms : voting twice by the same person by means of forged identity cards, registration of deaths on the electoral roll ... The Opposition has often accused the police to participate in the handling of elections to ensure victory for the favorite candidates, belonging mostly to the National Democratic Party (NDP).

For Amal Osman, MP on the list of NDP "the bill is the answer of the Government to statements on the need to strengthen political participation and encourage people to vote".

For his part, the deputy secretary general of the opposition party "al-Wafd" (right) Ibrahim al-Dessouqi, said that his party advocates international monitoring for the next elections, "al-Wafd also calls for a neutral government to supervise the elections", he adds.

About his party's position regarding the interests of the upcoming elections, al-Dessouqi states in "al-Balad" that "participation in elections without guarantees serve the government's objectives and contribute to give it a false legitimacy, but if the opposition boycott the election, it risks losing touch with ordinary people".

Meanwhile, the leader of the Opposition party "al-Aamal" (Labor, left) Ibrahim Choukri says that it is necessary to introduce constitutional amendments to ensure that the elections really fulfill their role. "The opposition parties have a good opportunity in the coming elections", he said. "The Opposition should have more seats in parliament so we have a chance to represent the various courses".

The general secretary of the union of journalists and close to the Opposition, Ragaey al-Mirghany, said that Egyptian NGOs generally agree on the failures of the election. "We must carry out a fundamental reform of the system of supervising elections, either by making popular committees or judges in charge of supervising the elections, either by removing away the security forces from the voting offices".

As for the international monitoring of elections, al-Mirghany says that it would not harm the image of Egypt. "On the contrary, it would help the country to strengthen the credibility of its electoral system, but the NDP will accept this idea?", he asked. And is it a good solution?