Assembly to be ‘people\'s parliament’

Ashraf Khalifa Cairo -  Shima Essam Shura Council candidate of the Imbaba and Warrak electoral district in Giza, Judge Ashraf Mahmoud Khalifa, said that the nesct parliament will be "one of Egyptian people" “The course of the elections suggests that Egypt is witnessing a true change, and that the next upcoming parliament will be a parliament of the Egyptian people as a whole, not a Parliament of the revolution. All members of society went in a wonderfully organised manner to the electoral centers to place their votes, hoping for a better future for their country.”
Khalifa said that the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, is expected to reap a large percentage of seats in the upcoming parliament, since it is among the most organised and experienced politicla institutions.
In an interview with ‘Arabstoday’, Khalifa ruled out the possibility of the fine imposed by the government to be the real motive behind the massive turnout at election centres. He explained that the law states that “the fine ranges between 50 to 500 Egyptian Pounds, depending on the circumstances of each citizen, and according to the estimation of the judge.” He pointed out that the law exists since 1923, where the fine used to range between 10 Egyptian Piasters to 10 pounds, increasing in 1971 to reach 70 pounds.
About his expectations for the elections, which ended its first phase on Tuesday, Khalifa stated that the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, is expected to reap a large percentage of parliamentary seats, since it is among the most organized and experienced parties on the political level. Khalifa hoped that the party did not resort to illegal tactics in advertising, like using religious slogans, or distributing flyers to voters about to enter polling stations to place their votes, stressing that “votes should be free, coming from inside the voters without any outside influence”.
Khalifa clarified: “There are some mistakes that happened in polling stations, but we have to differentiate between intentional and unintentional errors.  There was some confusion in some polling stations concerning the voting numbers of citizens, which is considered an unintentional error and could be disregarded, while there were other stations that opened before the presence of their judges, which is considered a grave error, and the ones in charge should be held accountable.”
As for his election platform, Khalifa expressed his hope to “meet all the needs of citizens in his electoral district”, saying that “priority of the platform goes to education, as it is the core of progress in all areas, and to work on improving public and private education, followed by caring for health, then focusing on fundamental issues, like issuing a law regulating wages of all categories so that wages would be more specified for those with high and average degrees”.
Khalifa noted that he will “demand the necessity of formulating and reviewing the constitution, and assuring that the next president will be a president to all Egyptians, and not just a president to one of the parties...the dissolved NDP experience will not reoccur, in addition to not nominating any minister to either the People’s Assembly or the Shura Council, since the Parliament is supposed to be a regulatory entity to monitor those ministers.”
Khalifa stressed on his quest to issue a law which holds ministers and officials accountable while in authority, and that he will fight for the implementation of such a law.
It is worth mentioning that Khalifa used to fight corruption in the past regime, filing lawsuits on officials and demanding their removal from their posts, owing to their profiting illegally and their abuse of power and authority. Among the issues he addressed were ‘Mamdouh Ismail’s Ferry’, ‘Maghraby’s Palmhills’, ‘Global Health Resort’, ‘Taba Hotel’, and ‘Giranah Resort’.