{"id":22453,"date":"2017-08-10T11:58:02","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T09:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maatpeace.us.to\/?p=22453"},"modified":"2022-08-10T16:39:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T14:39:04","slug":"%d9%82%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a1%d8%a9-%d8%a3%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%b5%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%aa%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/%d9%82%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a1%d8%a9-%d8%a3%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%b5%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%aa%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7\/","title":{"rendered":"A preliminary reading issued by the Presidential Election Observatory of the Maat Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22469\" src=\"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/marsd.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"360\" \/><\/h3>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>The legislative environment governing the presidential elections \u201cEgypt 2018\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>A preliminary reading issued by the Presidential Election Observatory of the Maat Foundation<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/\u0627\u0644\u0628\u064a\u0626\u0629-\u0627\u0644\u062a\u0634\u0631\u064a\u0639\u064a\u0629-\u0627\u0644\u062d\u0627\u0643\u0645\u0629-\u0644\u0644\u0627\u0646\u062a\u062e\u0627\u0628\u0627\u062a-\u0627\u0644\u0631\u0626\u0627\u0633\u064a\u0629-\u0645\u0635\u0631-2018.pdf\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-22455\" src=\"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-300x181.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"166\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"\/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-300x181.png 300w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-18x12.png 18w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-500x302.png 500w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-600x363.png 600w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-1024x618.png 1024w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-1536x927.png 1536w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-2048x1237.png 2048w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-16x10.png 16w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report-768x464.png 768w, \/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Egypt-2018-issues-its-first-report.png 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 166px) 100vw, 166px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Introduction:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Since mid-July 2017, Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights launched the Presidential Election Observatory \u201cEgypt 2018\u201d, which aims to follow up, monitor and evaluate all aspects related to the Egyptian presidential elections to be held in the first half of next year, based on internationally recognized standards of freedom and integrity, In this context, the observatory begins issuing a series of &quot;preliminary&quot; reports that analyze the environment in which the electoral process takes place.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Given the paramount importance that legislation acquires in shaping the context of the electoral process, and as the most influential and decisive factor in judging the nature of the electoral process, this report provides an analysis of the constitutional and legal environment governing presidential elections in Egypt, both at the level of the legal rules currently ruling (the Egyptian Constitution - Law on the Exercise of Political Rights - Presidential Elections Law), or laws expected to be promulgated such as the National Elections Authority Law.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0The upcoming presidential elections are the second after the 30 June 2013 revolution, and the third after the 25 January 2011 revolution, and the fourth plurality elections in general in modern Egyptian history. The presidential elections after the January 2011 and June 2013 revolution are characterized by their conduct according to fairer legal rules that allow for a competitive climate than before. Where there has been a structural constitutional change in the rules governing the electoral process following the 2011 and 2013 revolutions, and this has been reflected in the laws governing the process.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many view the upcoming elections in Egypt as an important cornerstone in stabilizing the political situation and confirming the idea of resorting to the election fund as the sole ruling tool in political change, and respecting the results of the fund whatever it is, given that these results will give the instrument of approval or rejection of any policies or decisions that have been made. Taken in past years or will be taken in the future.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Therefore, looking at the regulatory legislation and analyzing the extent of its \u201cneutrality\u201d and its ability to create a free competitive environment that preserves the rights of the parties to the electoral process is necessary for any serious follow-up process of the electoral process before the start of its official procedures, which prompted the Presidential Election Observatory of the Maat Foundation to be its first publication. It is the current report that provides a preliminary reading on the legislative environment governing the presidential elections.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><u>Constitutional and legal requirements for presidential election candidates <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Egyptian constitution, which was approved by the people in January 2014, deals with the procedures, conditions and controls for running for the president of the republic, as Articles 141 and 142 of the constitution specify the conditions for running for the presidency, which are as follows:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>That he be an Egyptian from Egyptian parents, and neither of his parents or spouse have conceived the nationality of another country,<\/li>\n<li>To be enjoying his civil and political rights<\/li>\n<li>He must have performed or exempted from military service<\/li>\n<li>His age should not be less than forty years on the date of candidacy opening<\/li>\n<li>That the candidate be recommended by at least twenty members of Parliament, or that at least twenty-five thousand citizens who have the right to vote in at least fifteen governorates support him, with a minimum of 1,000 supporters from each of them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Article 141 of the law referred to the right to specify additional conditions for candidacy, and Article 142 referred to the law establishing the rules governing the recommendation of candidates through parliament members or citizens.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Law No. 22 of 2014 organizing the presidential elections approved these constitutional conditions, added other conditions to them and defined them in its first and second articles, as the most important additions were: -<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Get a high qualification.<\/li>\n<li>He should not have been convicted of a dishonorable felony or misdemeanor, even if he has been rehabilitated<\/li>\n<li>He shall not suffer from a physical or mental illness that affects his performance of the duties of his position.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These constitutional and legal conditions are acceptable from the perspective of recognized international standards for free and fair elections, and despite some objections to the condition of obtaining a high qualification (as some see it as contrary to the principle of equality stipulated in the constitution), and the absence of disease (considering that the party that will determine This is an administrative, executive, and not a judicial body). However, there are justifications that make these two objections \u201climited\u201d to the appeal against the derogation of these conditions from the standards of freedom and integrity, and the most important of these justifications are the following: -<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>It is not possible to contest the unconstitutionality of these conditions, because the constitution itself gave the right to the legal legislator to add the conditions he deems necessary.<\/li>\n<li>The seriousness and importance of the presidential position requires the requirement of a reasonable degree of education, health and mental fitness.<\/li>\n<li>Education in Egypt is free until the end of the university, and therefore the principle of equality and equal opportunities is available from the source to obtain the required qualification, and therefore there is no objection to placing it as a condition for assuming certain jobs.<\/li>\n<li>These conditions did not negatively affect the competitiveness of the last presidential elections, which were held in 2014.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The legislative framework governing the procedures of the electoral process <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The two laws governing the presidential elections (No. 22 of 2014) and the exercise of political rights (45 of 2014) are basically the governing so far of the executive and procedural rules related to the Egyptian presidential elections. The first law regulates the conditions for candidacy, the procedures for obtaining a recommendation, the rules governing the movement of candidates, procedures and the ceiling. While the Law on the Exercise of Political Rights regulates the procedures for voting, counting and announcing the results, and the penalties associated with these stages.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is expected that an amendment will be made to the two laws following the issuance of the National Elections Authority Law to empty them of the texts according to which the committees that supervise the elections and organize the work of these committees are formed, as the jurisdiction in this regard will be transferred completely to the National Elections Authority.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Law on the Exercise of Political Rights regulated the issue of the right to vote in its first chapter and made it a right for every citizen who has reached the age of eighteen years and granted him the right to express opinion in the referendum and to elect the President of the Republic, members of Parliament and members of local councils. Article 1 exempted all officers and members of the armed forces The main, subsidiary, and additional personnel, as well as members of the police authority throughout their service period, are entitled to this right, which we see as flawed for officers and members of the police. As for the inclusion of the exemption for police officers and personnel, this does not apply to him, as the police, according to Article 206 of the Constitution, is a statutory civilian body, not a military body.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Article 57 of the Law on the Exercise of Political Rights stipulated that \u201cAnyone whose name is restricted to the voters&#039; database and fails to cast his vote in the election or referendum shall be punished with a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">And the fine penalty stipulated in this article is an infringement on the citizen in obliging him to use his right to vote. The right is permissible for a person to waive his free will and without coercion, and it is not permissible to compel him to use this in addition to the practical difficulty in implementing the provision of this article, which has not been implemented, even once since the issuance of the law on the exercise of political rights. 1956 year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Article 143 of the Egyptian constitution regulates the procedures for electing the president of the republic, stating that \u201cthe president of the republic is elected by direct, secret, general ballot, by an absolute majority of the number of valid votes. The law regulates the procedures for electing the president of the republic.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to these texts, the Presidential Elections Law No. 22 of 2014 issued by the Interim President of the Republic in March 2014 was issued, which defined the organizational procedures for electing the President of the Republic, and the law was generally agreed upon, except with regard to immunizing the decisions of the Presidential Elections Commission.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The law has fortified the committee\u2019s decisions, as it stipulates in its seventh article that the committee\u2019s decisions are final and enforceable in their own right and cannot be challenged in any way or before any party. Moreover, its decisions to suspend implementation or cancel may not be subject to, and this is the text that will be overridden by the requirement to form the National Election Commission, which will be charged By it - according to the law of its formation - laying down the rules for advertising, polling, counting, announcing results, and spending on the electoral process.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><u>The body supervising the presidential elections <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the past, the commission consisted of the President of the Supreme Constitutional Court and a number of senior judges in the State Council and the Court of Cassation and Appeal. As for the upcoming elections, they will take place under the supervision of the National Elections Commission.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><u>Has <\/u><\/strong>The Egyptian constitution devotes an entire chapter to explaining the workings of the Independent Electoral Commission and the method for its formation. This came in the ninth chapter entitled \u201cThe National Election Commission,\u201d and it includes 3 articles from 208 to 210.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The constitution defines it as an independent body, which is exclusively concerned with administering referendums, presidential, parliamentary and local elections, starting with preparing and updating the voter database, proposing to divide districts, determining the controls of advertising and financing, electoral spending, announcing it, and controlling it, and facilitating the procedures for Egyptian votes. Residents abroad, and other measures until the result is announced.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The authority is administered by a council composed of ten members delegated entirely equally from among the vice-presidents of the Court of Cassation, the heads of the courts of appeal, the vice-presidents of the State Council, the State Cases Authority and the Administrative Prosecution, chosen by the Supreme Judicial Council, and the special councils of the advanced judicial bodies and bodies according to the circumstances, from Other than its members, and a decision to appoint them is issued by the President of the Republic. Their assignment to work in the Authority is totally delegated for one six-year term, and its presidency is for the most senior members of the Court of Cassation. Half of the council\u2019s members are renewed every three years. The commission may seek the assistance of independent public figures, specialists, and people with experience in the field of elections without having the right to vote, and the commission shall have a permanent executive body that the law defines its formation, its work system, the rights and duties of its members and their guarantees, in a way that achieves their impartiality, independence and integrity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to the constitutional texts, the upcoming presidential elections will get rid of one of the most important institutional problems that prevailed in the previous elections, as the Presidential Elections Commission in the past was of a temporary nature that did not make it grasp all the strings of the electoral process, and the absence of a functional entity and a strong executive body that follows the body The supervisor was leading to many logistical and organizational problems, which is expected to be overcome after the establishment of the commission in accordance with a law that respects the spirit of the constitutional text<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><u>Law of the National Elections Commission <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The President of the Republic ratified the draft law of the National Elections Authority, which was approved by Parliament on July 4, 2017, and the law was actually issued on Monday, August 7, 2017, and according to the law, the National Elections Authority is an independent body with legal personality, and enjoys technical, financial and administrative independence, and its main headquarters is Cairo Governorate.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0The commission has the right to request the delegate of members to manage the polling and counting process from among the members of the judicial authorities and bodies exclusively after the approval of the respective councils for each of them, with the permissibility of seeking the help of civil workers in the state to assist them, and the proposal to divide or amend electoral districts in coordination with the concerned authorities in order to take into account fair representation of the population and governorates and equal representation of voters And to decide and regulate the use of secure electronic means of communication, voting, and archiving, and the law has defined the competencies of the National Elections Commission as follows:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Issuing decisions regulating its work and implementing the referendum and elections process in accordance with the provisions of the laws and according to internationally recognized principles and rules.<\/li>\n<li>Preparing a voter database based on the national number data, and updating and amending it on an ongoing basis.<\/li>\n<li>Calling voters for referendums and elections, setting their dates and setting the timetable for each.<\/li>\n<li>Opening the door for candidacy and setting the dates for the procedures, documents and papers required for candidacy.<\/li>\n<li>Receive candidacy applications, examine them and verify that they fulfill the required conditions.<\/li>\n<li>Establish rules, procedures and mechanisms for the conduct of the referendum and elections process.<\/li>\n<li>Request to delegate members to manage the polling and counting process in referendums and elections from among members of the judicial authorities exclusively.<\/li>\n<li>Determine polling stations and polling stations, distribute members, and issue the necessary decisions to maintain order and security within the committees.<\/li>\n<li>Setting voting rules for Egyptians abroad<\/li>\n<li>Determine the controls of publicity, financing, spending, and advertising, and control them, and determine the start and end date of the elections<\/li>\n<li>Establishing rules for following up the process through local and foreign media and organizations<\/li>\n<li>Establish rules for conducting opinion polls and voter education<\/li>\n<li>Establishing and defining a system for determining electoral symbols, and setting rules for receiving grievances and complaints<\/li>\n<li>Keeping the electoral process papers, and determining the competent authority to sign the medical examination for the candidates<\/li>\n<li>Preparing and announcing the final list of candidates and establishing procedures for notifying candidates of the decisions<\/li>\n<li>Expressing opinion on draft laws related to the election and referendum<\/li>\n<li>Announcing the results of the referendum or election, and establishing procedures to facilitate the empowerment of people with disabilities to cast their votes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In general, this law is considered to take into account the relevant constitutional texts, and to a large extent compatible with the standards of freedom and integrity, and guarantees the impartiality of the Commission in managing its work, but there are calls for some improvements to the law, the most prominent of which may be the following: -<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Amending Article 4 of the law regarding the organizational structure of the authority to include the board of directors of the authority and the executive body of the authority.<\/li>\n<li>Creation of an article stipulating that a member of the National Elections Commission is prevented from assuming any political or executive position except after 5 years have passed since leaving the Commission<\/li>\n<li>Amendment of Article 34 regarding judicial supervision, to provide for full judicial supervision without being bound by the ten-year period from the beginning of the 2014 constitution coming into effect (an article that will not be affected by the upcoming presidential elections)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Final conclusions \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The legal frameworks under which the election process will be held in 2018 is characterized by a great deal of guarantees of freedom, integrity and competitiveness, but the matter will remain dependent on the nature of implementing these procedures, and it will also remain dependent on the nature of the performance of the National Elections Commission to be formed and its ability - after its law has already been issued - to complete Its bylaws and institutional structure in time before the start of the next presidential elections, which are expected to officially start on February 8, 2018.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Therefore, we recommend the necessity to expedite the completion of the formation of the commission, choose its functional apparatus, and provide the necessary support to it before the end of 2017 in order for it to have sufficient time to manage the electoral competition with the utmost efficiency and neutrality.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/\u0627\u0644\u0628\u064a\u0626\u0629-\u0627\u0644\u062a\u0634\u0631\u064a\u0639\u064a\u0629-\u0627\u0644\u062d\u0627\u0643\u0645\u0629-\u0644\u0644\u0627\u0646\u062a\u062e\u0627\u0628\u0627\u062a-\u0627\u0644\u0631\u0626\u0627\u0633\u064a\u0629-\u0645\u0635\u0631-2018.pdf\">The legislative environment governing the presidential elections - Egypt 2018<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The legislative environment governing the presidential elections \u201cEgypt 2018\u201d, a preliminary reading issued by the Presidential Election Observatory of the Maat Pavement Foundation, since mid-July 2017 the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights launched the \u201cEgypt 2018\u201d Presidential Election Observatory, which aims to follow up, monitor and evaluate all aspects related to the Egyptian presidential elections To be held in the first half ...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[415,180],"tags":[156,187,159,315,365],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22453"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maatpeace.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=22453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}