Egypt Court Suspends Vote, but Ruling Is Disputed
Source: NYT
An administrative court on Wednesday suspended Egypts presidential election, scheduled to start on May 23, but legal experts said the ruling was expected to have little effect, and the candidates continued their campaigns, including preparations for the first televised debate Thursday night.
Egyptians expressed disbelief and derision in response to the ruling, which underscored the continuing lack of certainty about many details, including the final list of candidates and the job description of the president. The election is planned as the final step in the countrys military-led transition from the government of the ousted president, Hosni Mubarak.
The administrative court sought to suspend the elections mainly because of a procedural issue: it found that the date had wrongly been set by an independent electoral commission instead of by the governing generals themselves. Adding to the complexity is the belief of some officials that the administrative court itself lacked the authority to suspend the vote, although the technical details of jurisdiction over election rules are a matter of heated dispute.
Legal experts said Wednesday that they expected the election to proceed as scheduled because the military council running Egypt promised as recently as Wednesday to begin the voting on May 23, and lawyers were expected to appeal the administrative courts decision to the Supreme Constitutional Court.
Read more: www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/world/middleeast/egypt-presidential-election-is-suspended-by-court.html