The article in the interim constitution granting judicial immunity to all decisions issued by the Presidential Elections Commission will eliminate what remains of the upcoming presidential election’s credibility, Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
Article 28 of the March 2011 Constitutional Declaration, issued by the military council that has ruled the country since former President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation in February last year, says the commission’s decisions cannot be challenged, suspended or repealed.
Critics say the article deprives candidates and voters of an effective legal remedy to possible election fraud or rigging.
ElBaradei tweeted on Tuesday that Article 28 “robs elections of [their] remaining credibility.”
In late February, Parliament refrained from amending the article even though several MPs criticized it. But Parliament did amend articles 30 and 38 of the Presidential Elections Law, which are both related to the collection of ballots and vote-counting procedures.
But opponents said the amendments were useless so long as the controversial Article 28 remains.
The first presidential election since Mubarak’s ouster is slated to take place on 23 and 24 May.
ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, withdrew his presidential bid in early January to protest what he called the absence of a democratic atmosphere for the election.
