The Administrative Prosecution Club has declared that it will not oversee the referendum on the constitution.
President of the Administrative Prosecution Club Abdullah Qandil gave a statement at a press conference on Wednesday outlining the clubs’ refusal to oversee the referendum and their rejection of President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration. The statement also expressed the clubs “full and unequivocal support of every Egyptian rising up in the face of injustice and tyranny.”
Qandil said that the club will refuse to oversee the referendum unless two conditions are fulfilled, firstly the withdrawal of Morsy’s declaration and secondly all members of the judicial system must agree to supervise the referendum.
The Administrative Prosecution is among the judicial authorities that have pledged to provide judges for the referendum. The Administrative Prosecution Club is an informal body representing the members of the Administrative Prosecution.
Judges are permitted to abstain from participating in overseeing the referendum.
The club also condemned the scenes outside the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) on Sunday. A group of pro-Morsy demonstrators prevented the court judges from entering the building causing the SCC to indefinitely postpone its work. Qandil called for Morsy “to form a fact-finding committee on the instigators of these events and hold them accountable.”
Egypt’s judiciary remains split over whether or not to oversee the constitutional referendum which is scheduled for 15 December. In addition to the Administrative Prosecution, the Supreme Judicial Council, the State Council and State Litigation Authority have also agreed to provide judges to oversee the referendum.
On Sunday the Judges’ Club also declared that its members would not be supervising the referendum.
Many members of the judiciary are not pleased with Morsy’s declaration that severely reduces the judiciary’s power of oversight on government actions. The declaration made the Constituent Assembly, the Shura council and all of Morsy’s constitutional declarations immune from judicial interference.
