Jurists demand Supreme Constitutional Court supervision over election process

Jurists in Egypt called on authorities to assign the judiciary to fully supervise elections and to monitor the results of Egypt’s upcoming polls.  The Supreme Constitutional Court has supported the call emphasizing that the methods of voting and elections carried out in France and India need to be applied in Egypt.
 
Dr. Yousri Al Asar, Public Law Professor in Cairo University, stated during  the second meeting of the Conference titled  “supervision and judicial oversight; cancellation or fair elections,” which was held in Cairo  that this in fact is the only solution to ensuring the integrity of election faithfully reflecting the will of the voters. He asserted that “The Constitutional Court is the principal competent authority to undertake this task as it is within the scope of the judiciary’s function”

 

Al Asar denounced the idea that the Egyptian People’s Assembly is commissioned with the task of settling disputes over legislative election noting that the Constitutional Council of France undertakes the responsibility of supervising appeals of the presidential and parliamentary elections.
He indicated that prohibition of appeal against decisions of the Presidential Election Commission is contrary to the principle contained in article 68 of the Constitution which stipulates the immunity of any act or administrative decision from the control of the judiciary.
 
He explained that  public law supported the development of methods used to guarantee fair elections, including electronic voting, use of national ID, and allowing Egyptian expatriates the right to vote. He indicated that despite poverty and illiteracy countries such as India excelled over Egypt in the use of electronic voting

 

He called to apply India’s experience to Egypt where  they facilitated procedures enabling the ordinary layman opportunities to vote by using simple electronic voting machines. Al Asar called for  Egyptian delegates to be sent to India to learn how to utilize these methods in elections.

 

Dr. Ibrahim Darwish a Constitutional Law Professor emphasized that there is no genuine democracy without respect for the Constitution