El Sisi’s involvement in the judicial codes mess would be a mistake

El Sisi should not wade into mess over judicial code: Relying on President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to resolve the conflict over amendments to the judicial code is both counter-intuitive and in violation of democratic principles, Mahmoud Khalil writes in a column penned for El Watan. The president’s intervention in a conflict between the judiciary and legislative branches of government contradicts the basic tenets of democracy, which ensures the independence of each branch. This is to say nothing of the fact that El Sisi is, in effect, being asked to decide whether or not he should be granted increased power, Khalil says. (The changes to the code would, among other things, give the president the power to appoint the chief justice of the Court of Cassation — the nation’s highest appeals court — and the head of the Supreme Judicial Council.)