CAIRO // With Egypt's legislature and executive under their control, president Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood appear impatient to gain control of the third branch of government: the judiciary.
For many judges and prosecutors, their independence is at stake in the face of growing pressure from Islamists. The opposition accuses Mr Morsi's backers of calling for reform of the judiciary as a cover to install their own supporters.
But for Mr Morsi and his allies, judicial reform is crucial, they argue, because remnants of Hosni Mubarak's regime within the judiciary are determined to derail the country's transition to democratic rule.
A former aide to Mr Morsi has complained of legislative attempts to "assassinate the judiciary" while divisions over the judiciary stoked tensions this month that resulted in street battles between Brotherhood supporters and anti-government protesters.
Mr Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader who took office 10 months ago as Egypt's first democratically elected president, has made little effort to conceal his contempt for the courts, say his critics.
Although Mr Morsi professes his respect for the rulings, he has complained that the courts have released Mubarak-era officials.
"What is left is for them to collect rewards," the president scoffed on many occasions this month after several leaders of the former regime were released.
He has also issued decrees, since rescinded, that granted him, as well as Islamist-dominated bodies, such as the 100-member panel that drafted the constitution, immunity from the courts.
The appointment of his attorney-general, Talaat Abdullah, was ruled illegal last month by one of the courts. He remains in office while the verdict is appealed.
On Sunday, Mr Morsi's office suggested that a compromise had been reached with the judiciary to defuse a political storm over a proposed law that would have forced thousands of Egypt's judges into retirement by lowering the retirement age from 70 to 60. It would affect nearly a quarter of the 13,000 judges and prosecution officials.
The draft would also have barred the courts from reviewing or overturning presidential decrees - including his unilateral appointment of Mr Abdullah - as well as placed a ban on judges who refused to supervise elections.
A statement issued after a meeting between Mr Morsi and senior judges said Egypt's leader would hold a conference this week to sort out a compromise with judges.
"The president said he will personally adopt all the conclusions of the conference for proposals of bills to submit them to the legislative council," the statement read.
After the meeting, opponents of the proposed law cancelled protests scheduled for yesterday.
It is too early to say whether Mr Morsi - accused by critics of reneging on a host of promises going back to his election campaign - is willing to leave the judiciary alone and risk rulings against his policies and those of the Brotherhood.
Mr Morsi has recently been supportive of judicial independence but he has done nothing to stop his supporters in the upper house of parliament - a toothless chamber now acting as the legislature - from debating the draft laws that could clip the wings of the judiciary.
Many of the country's judges and prosecutors have protested against the proposed laws.
Led by Ahmed El Zind, head of the country's influential Judges Club, judges are threatening to take their case against the president to the United Nations and the African Union. But for now, the battle is being fought in Egypt.
On April 19, thousands of Islamists led by supporters of Mr Morsi's Brotherhood rallied outside the country's main court complex in downtown Cairo to press demands for what they call the "purging" of the judiciary. The result was clashes with the opposition, which has warned of what it called a "massacre of the judiciary" and is threatening to step up street protests over the issue.
The alleged attempts by Mr Morsi and his Brotherhood to control the judiciary are causing cracks in his own palace and cabinet.
Last week, Mr Morsi's top legal adviser, Mohammed Fouad Gadallah, quit. In his resignation letter he complained of a lack of dialogue and the monopolisation of decision-making by one group, a thinly veiled reference to the Brotherhood. There was "no clear vision" in running state affairs, he said.
Two days before, justice minister Ahmed Mekki, a one-time supporter of the president, also resigned.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
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Honeymoonish
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Major honours
ARSENAL
BARCELONA
- La Liga - 2013
- Copa del Rey - 2012
- Fifa Club World Cup - 2011
CHELSEA
- Premier League - 2015, 2017
- FA Cup - 2018
- League Cup - 2015
SPAIN
- World Cup - 2010
- European Championship - 2008, 2012
Company%20Profile
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