The People's Assembly’s Constitutional and Legislation Affairs Committee on Sunday said it rejects all statements made by government officials concerning the upcoming presidential elections or the new constitution, saying it considered such statements a form of “interference” in the work of legislators and judiciary authorities.
The committee announced its rejection of such statements during their discussion of MP Salama al-Ruqeiee’s request for information concerning statements made by Mohamed Attiya, the Minister of Local Development and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, about the schedule of the upcoming presidential elections.
In a press statement earlier this month, Attiya said the presidential elections would be held in late May, and that he expected power to be handed over to an elected civilian president by the end of June, according to the schedule of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
“This falls within the jurisdiction of the judicial committee supervising the presidential elections,” said Ruqeiee. “The minister’s statements are considered interference jurisdiction of the legislative authority which is represented in the People’s Assembly.”
“If these statements are accurate, then this is unacceptable interference,” said MP Mohamed al-Omda. “However, if they are not accurate, we advise the media to check [their] accuracy.”
Committee chairman Mahmoud al-Khodairy said, “the statements are not considered interference,” pointing out that “interference means issuing a decision contrasting with another parties jurisdictions.”
“However, we recommend government officials refrain from making statements on matters relating to other authorities to avoid confusion,” he said.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
