Egypt’s constitutional court on Sunday put
off its much-awaited ruling on the legitimacy of the Islamist-led legislative
assembly that drafted a new charter last week, accusing a crowd of Islamists
outside the courthouse of intimidating its judges.
What actually took place at the courthouse,
however, is a matter of dispute.
Calling Sunday “a dark black day in the
history of the Egyptian judiciary,” the Supreme Constitutional Court charged in
a statement that a mob of Islamists had blocked the judges from entering the
courthouse, in an “abhorrent scene of shame and disgrace.”
Approaching the court, the judges saw
crowds “closing the entrances of the roads to the gates, climbing the fences,
chanting slogans denouncing judges and inciting the people against them,” the
statement said, adding that “the threat of harm” prevented the judges from
entering. The judges said they were suspending the court’s sessions until they
could resume their work without “psychological and physical pressures.”
While the judges blamed the Islamists, the
Islamists accused the judges of manufacturing a melodramatic excuse for failing
to show up. And the contradictory narratives captured a clash between the
judges — appointed by Hosni Mubarak, the former president — and Egypt’s new
Islamist leaders that has thrown the political transition into a new crisis 22
months after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster.
Egyptian courts had previously dissolved
both the elected Parliament and an earlier Constitutional Assembly, and the
breakup of the current one would have completely undone the transition.
President Mohamed Morsi cited the pending ruling on Nov. 22 when he put his own
edicts above judicial review until ratification of the constitution, saying
that he intended to protect the assembly until it finished its work.
That same apprehension about the ruling
drove the assembly to rush to approve a constitution just before dawn on
Friday, over the objections of secular parties and the Coptic Christian Church,
before the court could act.
The judges’ statement on Sunday was a
counterattack, and the scene outside the courthouse was much quieter than their
statement described. A line of hundreds of riot police officers backed by a
fire truck and several armored personnel carriers were on hand to secure the
judges’ entry to the courthouse, and several people were seen coming and going
without any difficulty.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement
on its Web site that it had arranged to secure the entrance and protect the
judges, that the protests were “peaceful,” and that a number of judges had
already arrived safely.
On the other side of the police line was a
relatively staid crowd of a few hundred demonstrators from the Muslim
Brotherhood, Egypt’s mainstream political group, and its political arm, Mr.
Morsi’s Freedom and Justice Party. Like many of the group’s demonstrations, it
was a mostly middle-aged, middle-class crowd of men in sweaters and a few
neckties. By around 10 a.m., some were chanting slogans, but others were
sitting on the ground reading newspapers. Many carried placards with Mr.
Morsi’s picture or banners with the logo of his party, and one was reading its
Web page on his iPad.
“We immunize the constituent assembly, and dissolve the
constitutional court,” they chanted. “Freedom is coming, coming.” Some chants
were directed at Judge Tahani el-Gebali, who is known for her political
activism and opposition to the Islamists.
Magdy Hamed, 47, a businessman and member
of the Brotherhood’s party, said the demonstrators had done nothing to stop the
judges from entering. “We didn’t stop them,” he said. “We are asking them to
come down and do their job.”
Mahmoud el-Akhas, 51, another businessman
and party member, interjected, “We are here to exert pressure on the Supreme
Constitutional Court to comply with the will of the people.” He reiterated the
fears of many Islamists that the court might even seek to annul the
presidential decree that granted Mr. Morsi power over the generals who ruled
after Mr. Mubarak was ousted.
“The Egyptian people like stability,” Mr. Hamed said. “We don’t want
chaos, and we don’t want to start this transition all over again.”
Elsewhere, the battle over control of the
transition’s final stage appeared to widen. A few hours later on Sunday,
leaders of the largest association of judges tried to block a referendum on the
new constitution scheduled for Dec. 15, by announcing that its members would
refuse to perform their customary roles as election supervisors.
Leaders of the Judges Club, as the
association is called, have been outspoken opponents of the Islamists. On the
day of the presidential election, its leader tried to undermine Mr. Morsi by
holding a news conference to accuse his campaign of fraud and other violations,
though no systematic irregularities were ultimately found. The club has already
called for a nationwide judges’ strike to protest Mr. Morsi’s attempt to claim
temporary powers above the judiciary, and Mr. Morsi’s aides say they have been
considering other options if the judges refuse to monitor the referendum.
The Islamists in the Constitutional
Assembly, meanwhile, have apparently struck back at their foes on the court.
Egyptian state news media reported the existence of a little-noticed clause
tucked into the draft constitution that appears to single out Judge Gebali, the
Islamists’ bête noire, for removal from the bench.
The provision would keep the president of
the court and its 10 most senior judges, but remove more junior members, and
the 11th in seniority — the first who would be forced off the bench — is Judge
Gebali. “She makes no secret of her concern about the rise of the Islamists,
and Islamists have come to see her as a justice who rules on the basis of her
political preferences,” said Nathan Brown, a scholar of the Egyptian legal
system at George Washington University. “If the constitution is passed and goes
into effect, she will lose her position on the bench immediately because of a
clause that seems designed with one purpose in mind: to dismiss her.”
A report from the international group Human
Rights Watch calls the draft constitution “mixed” in its protection of human
rights, with some possible loopholes undermining broad protections. But secular
groups called for a march on Sunday to demand that the president cancel the
draft, charging that it would “restrict the political, civil, economic and
social rights and freedoms of Egyptians.” The groups said it “expresses the
vision of one party,” the Islamists.
It is unclear when the constitutional court
might resume its work or issue a decision. As of Sunday evening, small groups
of Islamists had set up tents and appeared prepared to sleep outside on the
courthouse lawn, overlooking the Nile.
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