LOC12:17
09:17 GMT
CAIRO, Nov 20 (KUNA) -- Egypt will not allow international monitoring over the upcoming parliamentary elections due in Nov 28, Minister of Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Councils Dr. Moufid Shehab said here Saturday.
Shehab also described any international monitoring over the upcoming elections as "an insult" to sovereign countries.
The official Middle East News Agency (MENA) quoted Shehab as saying in a press conference held in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria that, "we won't allow international monitoring over the elections in Egypt because we regard this as an infringement upon the state sovereignty." He added that, "our rejection to the international monitoring does not mean at all that we are going to forge the elections, but it means that Egyptian human elements are a real guarantee that dispenses with international monitoring." He also noted that each state is entitled to organize its elections according to its own vision, rules and legislative bodies.
Further, Shehab said that anything related to the home policy of any country is considered a domestic affair, adding that the agreed upon principle on the relationship of any country to others and on the international fora is non-interference with domestic affairs of other countries.
Shehab also rejected permitting any party or national activity that has a religious frame of reference, saying that, "we are a civilian state with the first article of its constitution providing for citizenship that asserts non-discrimination on the basis of religion." He also expected that candidates of the banned Muslim Brotherhood will not get the same percentage which they had in the latest elections.
The Egyptian Minister also asserted that the participation of several political parties in the upcoming elections will change the proportions of membership in the new parliamentary term, deeming that winning 88 seats only by opposition parties in the latest elections was due the abstention of many of them from active participation.
Shehab attributed the nominating of more than one candidate by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in the same constituency to the equal points got by these candidates within a three criteria set by NDP for naming its electoral candidates.
He also denied that nominating ministers for the parliamentary membership runs in counter with the principle of separation of powers, affirming that Egyptian constitution allows for prime minister, ministers and deputy ministers to run themselves for the parliamentary elections, noting that there are many states that do not prevent ministers from running for the parliament.
Shebah denied the abolition of the judiciary supervision over the elections, asserting that there are some 2000 judges who will oversee the upcoming elections, "in a way proper to the respectability of the Egyptian judiciary and protects the status of judges." Additionally, he said Egypt's High Elections Commission will play its due role in supervising the upcoming electoral process and will allow media people and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of civilian society to oversee the elections, rejecting any role played by the government in withholding any media program aired inside Egypt.
Regarding the "women's parliamentary quota" in the upcoming elections, Shehab described it as "a remarkable distinction," accorded to the Egyptian women in what gives them an access to the parliament.
He concluded by expressing his hopes that Egyptian women will depend on themselves and not on the quota -- following the passage of two successive parliamentary terms -- when it comes to having seats in the parliament in the future, "in order to prove their capabilities of coping with the political life." (end) rg.aff KUNA 201217 Nov 10NNNN