President’s office rejects calls to allow appeals to election results

Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour confirmed Saturday that the final results of the presidential elections will be immunized from being challenged in the courts, according to state-run news agency MENA.

The presidency said that it had made this stipulation in the elections law after consulting the Supreme Constitutional Court, claiming that the decision to immunize the final results of the elections has a valid basis in the Constitution.

In a written response to political parties that had requested amendments to the elections law, the president's office said it could not heed their recommendations “given the conditions of the transitional period the country is undergoing.”

On March 8, Mansour issued the Presidential Elections Law, which immunizes the final results from being challenged in the courts.

The presidency’s constitutional adviser Ali Awad told the state-run Al-Ahram portal that the response to political parties included a detailed explanation of why it was deemed necessary to immunize the decisions of the High Elections Commission (HEC).

Judges on the committee that drafted the law had said that immunity would contradict Article 97 of the Constitution.

Magdy al-Agaty, the head of legislation at the State Council, had demanded that the committee's decision not be immunized. "We suggested assigning a special [judicial unit] to look into appeals on the decisions of the High Elections Commission. The State Council insists that the committee's decisions are not immunized, but the final decision will be taken by the presidential [branch]," he was quoted as saying by privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm.

However, during the 2012 presidential election, which brought former President Mohamed Morsi to power, the commission's decisions were also immunized.

The elections law, which allows for a referendum if only one candidate runs, also stipulates that candidates not hold any other nationality, be at least 40 years of age, have Egyptian parents that are not dual citizens and hold a higher education degree.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday, Hamdan Fahmy, secretary-general of the elections commission, said the delays in the election process were due to “technical issues.” Elections are expected to take part in the summer.

“The delay in the announcement of the elections timetable was caused by preparing and processing electronic voting machines. It was for purely technical reasons… and it is not true to suggest that it was for political or security reasons,” Fahmy told the pan-Arab newspaper.

So far, the two potential candidates are current Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabbahi, after military general Sami Anan, human rights lawyer Khaled Ali and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said they would not take part in the race. 

Late last week, Shafiq said he will not run and will support Sisi if he chooses to nominate himself for the country’s top post.

Sisi is expected to announce his candidacy in the coming days.

On Saturday, Amr Moussa, former presidential hopeful and member of the Committee of 50 that drafted the new constitution, said he will present his visions for Sisi’s presidential program soon.