CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi faced a mounting revolt against Islamist attempts to force out thousands of judges when his own legal adviser quit yesterday, three days after the justice minister tendered his resignation.
Mohamed Fouad Gadalla resigned in protest at what he called an “attempt to assassinate the judiciary and undermine its independence”, according to a letter to Mursi published by the state-owned Al Ahram daily’s website. The president’s office said it was aware of the report and had no immediate comment.
The new blow came despite the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s efforts to calm a political furore by sending a judicial reform bill that would force the retirement of more than 3,000 judges to a parliamentary committee for further consideration. After emergency talks with the Supreme Judicial Council and the prosecutor general on Monday, Mursi’s office issued a late-night statement saying the president considered protecting the independence of the judiciary was his constitutional duty.
The secular and liberal opposition had condemned a draft law that would have imposed mandatory retirement on judges at 60 instead of 70, forcing out many senior judges who have angered the Islamists by annulling election laws and acquitting officials who served under the ousted president, Hosni Mubarak.
Reuters
