Staged disqualifications

The government and its prestigious parliament did not settle for the comical way by which the parliament was dissolved without any due justifications, and only to save the executive-legislative relations. More comedic scenes followed and more will probably still follow even after the elections are over and all the way till the new parliament gets disqualified on inception. The latest of such comical actions is the Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) decision to disqualify a number of candidates in a most stupid and obvious move, because the committee entrusted with checking candidates’ credentials knows for sure that such a move is unconstitutional. The committee even knows that its decisions are worthless because courts will annul the decisions and order the reinstatement of those candidacies. So, why does MoI make such hilarious actions?

The answer is that the government is trying to imply that the fate of the general elections and public will is in the hands of the interior ministry. Security reasons are becoming a weapon against both candidates and voters. It is very ironic and a democratic violation that security forces supervise and control elections, and in some way or another, control their results. In the 1967 elections, the MoI stole polling boxes in broad daylight and changed voting cards in a year known as the ‘forgery year’. However, to avoid obviousness, the government tends to create some ‘plays’ to delay some candidates and support others, portraying them as heroes with the ultimate result of confusing voters. How can MoI disqualify over 40 candidates for non-disqualifying felonies that are still being heard in courts without any final verdicts issued or even without being sued at all?

Disqualifying some parliamentary election candidates seems to be like placing some extra landmines on the coming elections’ path, which would only add further constitutional suspicions like those leading to dissolving the 2013 parliament that was due to a faulty decree made without any lack of cooperation memos, the judicial committee suddenly formed to supervise the elections and lack of a clear supreme judicial council agenda, which might all lead to contesting the election results.

One of the funniest possible scenarios is that the coming election results would be annulled after probing the new political power balances to put the spoiled 2013 parliament back in office, after people forget its “achievements” in limiting liberties, increasing fuel prices, cancelling subsidies, increasing electricity and water prices and finally, possible regional problems.