Egypt activists slam emergency law, campaign for stripping military ruler of legitimacy

As Egyptians prepare for a million-man demonstration next Friday to protest the emergency law, political activists are launching campaigns to strip the Higher Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) of its legitimacy for this very same reason as well as for several practices seen as obstructing Egypt’s progress towards democracy.

“I [name of signatory] hereby declare that I do not recognize the Higher Council for the Armed Forces as the legitimate ruler of Egypt as long as it does not comply with the constitutional declaration it issued and the referendum taken by the people,” says one version of the statement posted on social networking websites Facebook and Twitter.

Another version of the statement reads: “I declare that I will not recognize the Higher Council for the Armed Forces as the legitimate ruler of Egypt nor accept the state of emergency after September 30 and this is in compliance with the constitutional declaration and the referendum taken by the people.”

Tens of thousands of signatures have been collected so far and more are expected to come. The statements are aimed to garner support for the rally due to be held next Friday under the name “Putting an end to emergency” and to put pressure on the SCAF to ensure a speedy transition of power and to lift the state of emergency. Without those procedures, the deadline of which is September 30, SCAF loses its legitimacy according to activists.

“We have a list of demands that we plan to focus on next Friday during the rally,” said Tarek al-Kholy, spokesman of the April 6 youth movement.

Kholy explained that the movement will call for holding a referendum before extending the state of emergency, setting a clear timeline for both parliamentary and presidential elections, responding to the demands of teachers, doctors, and workers, and cancelling the law that criminalizes sit-ins.

Tarek al-Malt, spokesman of al-Wasat party, said the party will also take part in the Friday protests especially for the timeline and the emergency law issues.

“We also want to make sure that power is handed to a new parliament and a civilian president by February 2012 at most,” he added.

In the same vein, the first lawsuit against the extension of the state of emergency was filed Monday by an Egyptian lawyer at the Supreme Constitutional Court following objections by several legal experts who labeled SCAF’s action unconstitutional.

Khaled Ali, head of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, also filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and Minister of Justice Mohamed al-Gindi for refraining from taking the necessary actions to determine the constitutionality of the emergency law extension and the necessity of holding a referendum before such a procedure is taken.

“I waited for one whole week for the government to take action through taking the matter to the Supreme Constitutional Court especially after the most senior of judges and legal experts in Egypt argued that the extension is unconstitutional, but nothing happened,” he told Al Arabiya.

The emergency law was put into full effect following the attack on the Israeli embassy on September 9 by a group of angry protestors. Even though SCAF and the government reassured the people that it will only be in cases that threaten national security, this remnant of the former repressive regime remains an obstacle in the way of achieving full democracy, according to activists.

The extension of the state of emergency was also seen by many legal experts to be in violation of the constitutional declaration which the people approved through a referendum held in March 2011.

(This article was translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid.)