The Supreme Administrative Court’s first circuit, headed by Judge Magdy al-Agaty, is scheduled to consider on Saturday an appeal to the decision issued by a lower administrative court suspending the presidential election scheduled for 23–24 May.
The Benha Administrative Court in Qalyubiya Governorate ruled Wednesday that the election should be suspended, saying the Presidential Elections Commission had overstepped its bounds by calling for voters to go to the polls in a bylaw.
The commission issued Bylaw 5/2012 on 7 March, which also set the dates for the first round of voting and runoffs.
The lower court said only Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council temporarily acting as the country's executive power, has the right to tell voters to go to the polls.
In its appeal, the State Lawsuits Authority said the Benha court decision was a clear violation of the law and Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration, which grants the Presidential Elections Commission immunity from legal challenges. It also said the ruling violates the commission’s term of operation, which began when it started accepting presidential candidacy applications and will end when the commission announces the election results.
In an unrelated case, the Supreme Administrative Court will hear an appeal by the Presidential Elections Commission on the same day against a Wednesday State Council Administrative Court decision annulling the commission's referral of the Political Isolation Law for constitutional review.
The law strips top officials who served under ousted President Hosni Mubarak or at the helm of his now-disbanded National Democratic Party of their political rights, including running for office, for 10 years.
A copy of the State Council Administrative Court's ruling suspending the commission's request for a constitutional review reads: “The Presidential Elections Commission overstepped its authority as a purely administrative commission by referring the law to the Supreme Constitutional Court."
The court said that based on constitutional principles, the elections commission cannot be entirely immune from judicial oversight and that its legal immunity only concerns the decisions made within its limited terms of reference.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
