Egyptian Judges Split on Vote, Opposition Calls for Protest

Photo Credit: AP

A broad range of opposition parties and groups have announced plans for a protest tomorrow, December 4, against the proposed constitution and the upcoming constitutional referendum. Concurrent opposition marches are set to converge on the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis in the afternoon, despite government warnings that “infiltrators” might try to incite violence. The demonstrations will be led by the National Salvation Front, a new alliance that includes former presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahi, Amr Moussa, and Mohamed ElBaradei, as well as at least a dozen smaller groups representing youth, Christians, and political parties. In a statement explaining the upcoming demonstrations, the opposition groups said, “President Mohamed Morsy, who was elected to be a legitimate and democratic president, is losing his legitimacy with his policies and practices that are biased to his party and his group.”

Judicial groups splintered on the issue of overseeing the referendum, which is required by Egyptian law. One day after the Judge’s Club announced their boycott of the December 15 referendum, the Supreme Judicial Council agreed to nominate judges to supervise the polls. Legal and political scholars were divided on the implications of the decisions. Head of the Cairo Appeals Court Zakaria Shalash “expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation, adding that the situation is unprecedented and that Egypt’s judiciary has never experienced this level of disrespect,” while Judge Ahmed Yehia Ismail said “that the majority of Egypt’s judges are expected to take part in the referendum process, since they are bound by their ethical and professional responsibilities to do so.”