A plan to legally block former National Democratic Party (NDP) members from the upcoming elections has stirred controversy around the legality of such lawsuits and whether the administrative judiciary can ban candidates linked with the former regime.
The Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, plans to form a legal commission to file lawsuits with the Supreme Administrative Court to banish NDP candidates from the parliamentary elections based on a State Council ruling that dissolved the party.
"These legal cases against NDP candidates are a good step forward, because the court ruling to dissolve the NDP prevents its members from running the elections," said Gamal Eid, a lawyer, rights activist and head of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). “This is correct, by virtue of the court ruling, because it is illogical for NDP members who ruined and corrupted the country to run the next elections.”
Mokhtar Noah, lawyer of the Islamic groups in Egypt, said, “These lawsuits will be weak in merit and the law, because there must be a legal condition that bans members of the dissolved NDP from nomination. We cannot make the High Elections Commission to act in disconformity with the law. NDP members have nominated themselves through new parties and the legal solution is a court ruling against them.”
The lawsuit to banish all NDP members through a court ruling is groundless, said Counselor Refaat al-Saed, head of Assiut Judges Club.
"While the Muslim Brotherhood was illegal and all its activities were banned, thousands of its members were not prevented from political practice based on a law," he said, adding that they won 88 seats as independent candidates.
“Any demands by a party to exclude opponents based on their political affiliation are meant to clear way to parliament from any competition.”
The Egyptian people, who revolted without the guidance or leadership of a political party or group, are capable of choosing their representatives, he said, adding that trying to replace the will of the people is an encroachment of their rights.
"Brotherhood members are trying to distract our candidates through legal cases because they are fully aware of the weakness of their candidates in the Nile Delta and Upper Egypt constituencies against ours," said Salah Hassaballah, head of the Egyptian Citizen Party, one of the biggest parties to embrace ex-members of the NDP, adding that these "amateur" endeavors will be disregarded, as they cannot work on people with electoral experience, referring to NDP members.
"The Brotherhood has defeated the NDP in its prime, while the ousted regime used thuggery," said Ahmed Abu Baraka, the legal counselor for the Freedom and Justice Party, adding that his group was labeled “banned” but not dissolved by a court ruling, unlike the NDP which is dissolved for corrupting the political life in Egypt.
“We are not only relying in our legal approach on a ruling that dissolved the NDP, but also on the violation of the condition of good reputation, because they ruined political life and we have court verdicts proving rigging in the previous elections.”
