Egypt poll panel suspends work

Cairo An official commission overseeing Egypt's crucial presidential election has suspended its work in protest after allegedly being castigated by parliament, according to an official in the panel, throwing this month's polls into uncertainty.

"The commission decided to suspend its work after learning that some members of the parliament went too far in criticising it," said Hatem Begatu, the panel's secretary-general. "We are waiting to see how the [ruling] military council will do before we decide to resume our job," he added.

The Islamist-dominated parliament criticised the commission comprising senior judges during a debate on Monday about introducing amendments to a law governing this month's presidential elections, Egypt's first since a popular revolt toppled long-standing president Hosni Mubarak.

Begatu accused the parliament of questioning his commission's integrity. "We held a crisis meeting and requested the military council to intervene to exercise its authority in separating between the [legislative and judicial] powers so that the elections could be held as scheduled," he added.

Ban on candidates

The commission recently drew harsh criticism mainly from Islamists after it barred the populist Salafist [ultra-conservative] preacher Hazem Salah Abu Esmail and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood's deputy leader Khairat Al Shater from standing as president. The panel, whose decisions cannot be appealed, has said that the two aspirants were disqualified for failing to meet the criteria set for contesting the presidency.

Thirteen people, including Mubarak's last premier Ahmad Shafiq, are vying for Egypt's top post in the polls scheduled for May 23-24.

"The commission cannot accept the threats made by some lawmakers at this particular time," said the panel in a statement. "This undermines the commission's strenuous efforts to do its job well to achieve Egyptians' aspirations," it added.

The commission said it had indefinitely delayed a meeting, which was originally due to be held yesterday with presidential contenders.

The crisis is the latest in mounting turmoil in Egypt in the run-up to the presidential vote.

Last week, ten people, including an army soldier, were killed and hundreds injured in violence near the Defence Ministry in Cairo.

"The latest crisis is due to the election commission's belief that the parliament seeks to encroach on its powers by debating new rules for the presidential polls," said Nabeel Zaki of the leftist Tagammu (Unionist) Party.

The military has pledged to hand over power to an elected civilian authority by the end of June.