Egypt’s Judge Club To Supervise Constitution Referendum With Conditions

Egypt’s Judge Club of the State Council announced Monday that they would supervise the constitutional referendum scheduled for Dec. 15 with some conditions, the state-run Nile TV reported.

“The voters need us to supervise the referendum, and if we don’ t fulfill our duty, we will let them down,” Hamdy Yassin, head of the club, said at a press conference.

“We preferred forgetting about the controversy over the constitution and following the public opinion that will show through the polling boxes,” he added.

Meanwhile, the club stipulated some conditions, including securing the polling committees well, forbidding the propaganda out of the polling stations, securing the headquarters of the Higher Committee for Elections, and ending the sit-in outside the Supreme Constitutional Court.

Some Islamists have been conducting a sit-in outside the Supreme Constitutional Court since Dec. 2 to prevent the judges from entering the court, fearing of any verdicts issued to dissolve the current Shura Council or the Constituent Assembly that wrote the draft constitution.

Late Monday, President Mohamed Morsi granted the military the right to arrest civilians while protecting state institutions in the run-up to a referendum on the nation’s new constitution, official news agency MENA reported.

Army officers will be granted the same arrest powers given to policemen until the announcement of referendum results, the decree stated.

Egypt is to run the referendum on the controversial draft constitution Saturday despite the opposition’s call for a nationwide protest, urging postponing the referendum until a consensus is reached.

Some opposition forces, mainly the National Salvation Front led by former diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei and former Arab League Chief Amr Moussa, expressed complete rejection of the draft constitution and the referendum, calling for massive protests Tuesday against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

In response, Morsi gave the army the power of arresting civilians, calling them to help the police maintain the security for the referendum.

The decision came in the presidential decree No. 701, which was published in the official newspaper Sunday and put into action Monday.

“The military police shall help the police protect the state institutions until the results of the constitution referendum are announced,” the decree said.

Xinhuanet