Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi called on political parties and forces to object to the article protecting the Supreme Electoral Commission’s (SEC) decisions from appeal, under the presidential elections law issued by Interim President Adly Mansour on March 8.
“I seriously doubt the transparency of the upcoming presidential elections and this is what makes this article dangerous, therefore the Egyptian people, liberal forces, and political parties must unite against this law,” Sabbahi stated in a press conference in a meeting early Monday at the headquarters of the Free Egyptians Party.
This came amid Sabbahi’s campaign tour and meetings with different political parties to share their visions on the upcoming phase, seeking their support in the upcoming presidential elections.
Sabbahi further invited members of the National Salvation Front (NSF) and political parties to an urgent meeting on Monday evening at the headquarters of Wafd Party to discuss the recently passed law on presidential elections, no. 22/2014.
The debated article states that the SEC’s decisions cannot be subject to judicial supervision, which authorizes the SEC to operate as an independent judicial body, instead of its administrative role in organizing elections.
Politicians have objected this sort of “legal immunity.”
“It is a violation to constitutional article 97,” Sabbahi added, which states that “any stipulation of immunity of any act or administrative decision from the control of the judicature is prohibited.”
Among the attendees to Sabbahi’s meeting were the parties of al-Mu’tamar, Karama, Tagammu, Wafd, and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, as well as Amr Moussa, president of the 50-member committee which wrote the constitution.
Sabbahi is also the head of the Popular Current Party, and a co-founder of Karama Party.
Moreover, Ibn Khaldoun Center supported those arguments and added several further recommendations to the SEC, such as providing enough time for civil society organizations to apply for members to monitor the elections, the redistribution of voters according to their places of residence, and more precision regarding the expenses of the electoral campaigns.
“The center aims at protecting the constitution and avoiding any legal issues that would question the entire presidential system in the future,” it said in an official document released on March 9, confirming its intention to monitor the coming presidential elections.
