Egypt’s president has approved new legal amendments that further exclude any serious competitors from elections and give the military greater control over civilian affairs, a leading rights group said on Thursday.
The amendments, published earlier this week in the country’s official gazette, bar retired military officers from running for presidential, parliamentary or local elections without permission from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Current military officers had already been prohibited from running in elections or joining political groups. The amendments also empower the minister of defense to appoint military advisors to governors in Egypt’s 27 provinces.
“This is clearly a move by (President Abdel Fattah) el-Sissi and his government to restrict the kind of opponents they or their allies would face in any elections,” Hussein Baoumi, Amnesty International’s Egypt researcher, told The Associated Press. “In other cases we have seen more direct repression, like handing down convictions that bar candidates from running over a number of years.”
The government denies allegations that the law aims to further stamp out opposition. The amendment says it’s “necessary to put controls on military personnel after the end of their service, especially regarding their right to share information entrusted to them during their tenure.”
El-Sissi's approval of the laws comes just weeks after Egypt announced it will hold Senate elections in August for the first time since the dissolution of Parliament's lower chamber in 2014, training a spotlight on government management of popular votes.
El-Sissi has sought to stifle nearly all criticism since coming to power in 2013. As defense minister he led the military’s removal of the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, amid nationwide protests against his rule.
In the years since, security forces have jailed Islamist political opponents and secular activists, including many of those behind the 2011 uprising, frequently on dubious charges of supporting the Brotherhood — now banned as a terrorist organization.
Prominent retired army generals, who command respect from the government and Egyptian public, have proved more difficult to crush. Still, the two army officers who sought to challenge el-Sissi in the 2018 presidential election were pushed out of the race.
Former chief-of-staff Sami Annan was arrested shortly after he announced his intention to run. Ahmed Shafik, a former Air Force general who nearly won the country’s first democratic election in 2012, withdrew his bid under murky circumstances. El-Sissi won re-election with 97% of the vote.
“The government wants to prevent what happened with Anan and Shafik from happening again,” said Baoumi. “Those kinds of arrests are more costly politically, it's bad publicity, they can’t just convict former high-ranking officers of terrorism.”
Egypt’s House of Representatives, which is packed with supporters of el-Sissi, first approved the draft law in early July.
The appointment of military advisors to each governor nationwide comes as the Egyptian military seeks to further enshrine its dominance over key aspects of civilian administration and economy, added Baoumi.
The Egyptian military supervises massive infrastructural projects and has built a vast economic empire that includes food, mineral water and land reclamation companies.
The amendment says that scores of new military advisors will be tasked with conducting field visits and “following up” on the provision of public services in each province.
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte was interrogated by prosecutors for five hours Friday as authorities investigate whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry.
Prosecutors have been investigating the highly unpopular leader on charges of illicit enrichment and failure to declare assets. After she gave testimony, Boluarte rolled out of the offices in a car with tinted windows, surrounded by police and security detail.
In a televised speech following the meeting, Boluarte responded to the allegations saying “everything they've said is false.” She flaunted one of her Rolex watches and a number of other golden bracelets and necklaces that spurred on the controversy, holding them up for the cameras and railing against critics.
“With respect to the watches, I should recognize that it was a mistake to have accepted (them) on loan,” she said. "As these watches are not my property, I was not obliged to declare them.”
While she said some of the jewelry was hers, she said she received the watches as a loan from Wilfredo Oscorima, the governor of the southern rural region of Ayacucho.
Boluarte's statements Friday appear to directly contradict previous comments she made saying the Rolex watches were “fruit of my labor,” working since she was 18.
The unfolding scandal is the latest turmoil that has wracked Peru’s political system in recent years.
The probe began in mid-March after the digital news program La Encerrona spotlighted Boluarte wearing a Rolex watch worth up to $14,000 in Peru. Other TV shows later reported that the leader was seen wearing at least two other Rolexes as well as a gold and diamond Cartier bracelet estimated to cost more than $54,000.
The controversy was quickly dubbed “Rolexgate” on social media.
Peruvian law requires officials to declare jewelry whose price exceeds $2,791, and it’s still not clear where the watches and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank transfers came from.
The controversy will only add headwinds for Boluarte, who is unpopular with 86% of Peruvians, according to a March survey by the Institute of Peruvian Studies.
“She has no good governance, she’s rejected by the majority, her problems with the people are very serious,” said Alonso Cárdenas, political science professor at Peru’s Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University.
Earlier on Friday, scuffles broke out as opposing protesters gathered near the building, waiting for Boluarte to leave.
While a number of protestors came to defend the president carrying a sign reading “Dina resist,” others blocks away from the presidential palace railed against the embattled leader, carrying brooms and shouting “get them all out!” They were blocked by riot police, who drove them away with tear gas.
Last week, armed police officers broke down the front door of Boluarte’s house with a battering ram and entered the property to search for the watches. They did not find them, and moved on to the presidential palace, where they also weren't located.
Top prosecutor Juan Villena had said his office was expanding the scope of the investigation, given that investigators believe Boluarte has even more undeclared assets than they originally suspected.
The office estimated that her jewelry, including the Cartier bracelet and watches, may be worth as much as $500,000, and said she received more than $400,000 in “deposits of unknown origin” into her bank account.
Boluarte, a 61-year-old lawyer, was a modest district official before entering then-President Pedro Castillo’s government as vice president and social inclusion minister with a total monthly salary of $8,136 in July 2021. She became president in December 2022 — after Parliament dismissed Castillo — with a salary of $4,200 per month. Shortly after, she began wearing the watches in public.
The Andean nation is no stranger to political tumult. Peru has had six presidents in six years, following waves of political controversies. That doesn't mean Boluarte is soon to be ejected from the presidency. Analysts told The Associated Press she is unlikely to face any real consequences – at least in the short term. Sitting presidents in Peru can’t be charged with crimes while in office, and Congress will be reluctant to move forward with impeachment proceedings.
Boluarte's alliance with a coalition of congressional leaders means she will likely stay in office until 2026, said Will Freeman, a fellow of Latin American studies for the Council of Foreign Relations. Freeman says Boluarte is a “puppet” who has enabled the lawmakers to pass reforms that are slowly “dismantling democracy” so that they can stay in power.
Peru’s Congress on Thursday shot down two requests by a number of lawmakers to remove Boluarte from office. Boluarte called the motions “absurd” on Friday and thanked the congress for shooting them down.
Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Peru's President Dina Boluarte holds up her hand to show the ring and bracelet she is wearing, during a press conference at Government Palace, in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Authorities are investigating on whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Peru's President Dina Boluarte waves as she arrives to attend a press conference at Government Palace in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Authorities are investigating on whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Peru's President Dina Boluarte points to the earrings she is wearing, during a press conference at Government Palace, in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Authorities are investigating on whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Peru's President Dina Boluarte shows her necklace, accompanied by her lawyers Mateo Castaneda, left, and Eduardo Barriga, during a press conference at Government Palace in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Authorities are investigating on whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Peru's President Dina Boluarte shows her jewelry during a press conference at Government Palace in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Authorities are investigating on whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
FILE - Peru's President Dina Boluarte talks to the press at the end of the Amazon Summit in Belem, Brazil, Aug. 8, 2023. Boluarte testified to prosecutors behind closed doors Friday, April 5, 2024, as authorities investigate whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
Pedestrians walk past the public prosecutor's office where Peruvian President Dina Boluarte arrived to testify, in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Authorities are investigating on whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Police stand guard in the perimeters of the public prosecutor's office where Peruvian President Dina Boluarte arrived to testify, in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Authorities are investigating on whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
People run for cover as police launch tear gas to disperse demonstrators trying to reach Government Palace to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Boluarte testified to prosecutors behind closed doors Friday as authorities investigate whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
People run for cover as police launch tear gas to disperse demonstrators trying to reach Government Palace to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Boluarte testified to prosecutors behind closed doors Friday as authorities investigate whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
People run for cover as police launch tear gas to disperse demonstrators trying to reach Government Palace to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 5, 2024. Boluarte testified to prosecutors behind closed doors Friday as authorities investigate whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Police and prosecutors stand outside President Dina Boluarte's house during a raid aimed at seizing luxury watches as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged illicit enrichment in Lima, Peru, Saturday, March 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
