Standoff between the judiciary and the government continues
CAIRO: With rumors spreading of more proposed constitutional amendments – specifically to Article 88, which deals with judicial supervision over elections – the ongoing standoff between the government and the judiciary is again heating up.
This issue is still occupying the minds of politicians, intellectuals and the majority of the country. The Daily Star Egypt took to the streets to gauge people’s opinions regarding the rumor.
The decision would definitely favor the government. Judges prevented fraud in the elections, or they at least decreased it. But preventing them from supervising elections means nobody outside of the NDP (National Democratic Party) will have a chance of winning. Mohammed, accountant.
I believe that this decision will protect judges from embarrassment. They are held responsible for all election results. And since they are not able to prevent al fraud, they might look as if they had betrayed the trust society had placed in them. This way they will not lose their respect in the eyes of ordinary citizens.Omneya, air hostess
Egyptian people have enough awareness and the results of the elections will not be changed. If such a decision was taken, it would certainly favor the government. I think we are mature enough to have fair elections without supervision from anyone, even a judge.Ghada, student
This decision would be the first step to the inheritance of the Egyptian throne by Gamal Mubarak. It is a simple equation: No judges in elections equals frauds. I think they should take another decision, which is announcing Egypt a kingdom for Mubarak s family and friends. The next elections’ results after such decision would be 100 percent yes, not just 99.9 percent.Ahmad, lawyer
I don t think such decisions deserve all of this attention. With or without judges all the elections results will favor the NDP. I think we just want to pretend that there are real elections. I believe that there are people who earn their living from elections, such as people in the media.Mona, house wife.
I still can’t understand the reasons behind such a decision. We will have no explanation but losing the last respectable thing in the Egyptian political scene. Mohammed, pharmacist
I think such a decision is political. What happened in the last elections frightened the government. They could lose the majority in the parliament because of the semi-fair elections. What would happen if we had a completely fair one. Moataz, law student
I believe the image of the judiciary system was shaken in the last series of elections. The clashes between the supreme judiciary council and the judges club also added to the problem. I believe judges should stay in courts away from politics. Ahmad, businessman
The views expressed in Word on the Street do not necessarily reflect the views of The Daily Star Egypt.
