Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CAIRO4961
2005-06-29 15:33:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

EGYPT: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Tags:  PGOV KDEM PHUM EG 
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UNCLAS CAIRO 004961 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

NSC STAFF FOR POUNDS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL


Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly.

UNCLAS CAIRO 004961

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

NSC STAFF FOR POUNDS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL


Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary: Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court issued
an advisory opinion June 29 stating that five articles of the
new Presidential Elections Law, passed by parliament on June
16 but not yet ratified by the President or published, are
unconstitutional. The Speaker of the People's Assembly
considers the opinion binding and affirmed that the
parliament would have to revise the articles in question (and
presumably send the law back to the court for further
scrutiny) before it can be sent to the President for
signature and publication. This development could delay
President Mubarak's anticipated announcement of his intention
to stand for another term and could also push back the date
(still not fixed) of Egypt's first direct, competitive
presidential election. Most observers agree that the
election must be held by the first week of October, as
prescribed by the constitution. End summary.


2. (SBU) Egyptian State TV announced on the afternoon of June
29 that People's Assembly Speaker Fathy Surour had received a
memorandum from the Supreme Constitutional Court advising him
that five articles in the presidential elections law, passed
by parliament on June 16, are unconstitutional and adding
that two other articles are of questionable
constitutionality. Surour reportedly confirmed that he
considers the court's memorandum binding and that Parliament
will have to revise these articles before sending the law on
to the President for ratification and publication.


3. (SBU) The articles cited by the court reportedly include
those dealing with the composition of the presidential
elections commission, limits imposed on campaign ads, the
stiffened penalties for those found to obstruct campaigning
and voting, and the stiffened penalties for persons who cast
fraudulent votes.


4. (SBU) Nasser Amin, director of the Center for the
Independence of the Arab Judiciary and a prominent organizer
in domestic election monitoring efforts told us he was
surprised by the ruling and, as a lawyer, had difficulty
seeing at first glance what aspects of the articles cited by
the court might be considered unconstitutional.


5. (SBU) The Constitutional Court's issuance of an advisory
opinion on laws passed by parliament (but not yet ratified by
the president and published) is not a mandatory feature of
the Egyptian legislative process. The court's advisory
opinion is also not binding - it is up to the parliament
whether to take the court's views into account. In this
case, since the law spells out the modalities for the
election of the President, the GOE apparently determined that
it could not risk the possibility that the court might later
strike down the law as unconstitutional and thus unseat any
president elected within its framework.


6. (SBU) Comment: This development could delay President
Mubarak's expected announcement of his intention to stand for
another term, and could also push back the date of the next
presidential election. No election date has been fixed but
it was expected to be held in mid-September. The
constitution stipulates that the election can be held no
later than six years after the President last took the oath
of office - in this case the first week of October. End
comment.


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CORBIN