| Ahmad Fathi Sorour | |
|---|---|
| Sorour with President of Russia Vladimir Putin on 27 April 2005. | |
| Speaker of the People's Assembly of Egypt | |
| In office 1990–2011 |
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| Preceded by | Rifaat el-Mahgoub |
Ahmad Fathi Sorour (born 9 July 1932) is an Egyptian former politician who was the speaker of the People's Assembly since 1990, until the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. According to Article 84 of the Egyptian Constitution, Sorour, as speaker of the People's Assembly, was first in the order of succession to become President of Egypt if the president dies, becomes incapacitated, or resigns.[1] Upon the resignation of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, however, the military, headed by Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, assumed control of the state.[2]
Dr. Sorour was first elected to the People's Assembly in April 1989 was elected Speaker in November 1990. He was President of the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1994–1997 and also served as President of the Union of African Parliaments in 1990–1991.
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Following his studies at Cairo University (Bachelor of Law and later Doctor of Law) and at University of Michigan, USA (Master of Comparative Law), Sorour started his professional life as Assistant Attorney General (1953–1959). He was a lawyer at the Court of Appeal (1976). He has been Professor of the Faculty of Law at Cairo University since 1959, and was Dean of the Faculty (1983–85). He was Vice President of the University (1985–1986) and President of the Higher Council of Universities in Egypt (1987–1990).
Sorour was Minister of Education (1986–1990) and is a Member of the Political Bureau of the National Democratic Party. He also spent some years in the Egyptian diplomatic service, serving as Cultural Attaché at the Embassy in Switzerland (1964), Cultural Adviser at the Embassy in Paris (1965–1970), and Permanent Delegate of the League of Arab States to UNESCO (1972–1978).
He was a Member of the Governing Board of the Graduate Institute for Criminal Science in Italy (1985–1993), Vice-Chairman of the International Council on Education, Geneva (1987–1989), Vice-President and Member of the Executive Board of UNESCO (1989–1993), Vice-Chairman of the International Association of Penal Law, Paris (since 1989), and President of the Egypt-Russia Friendship Association (since 1992).
Among his awards are the Sciences and Arts Medal, first class, in 1964 and 1983, and the State Appreciation Award in Social Sciences in 1993. He was decorated as "Grand Officer" of the Pleiade by the International Assembly of French-speaking Parliamentarians in 1993.
Sorour has directed over 30 doctoral theses in law and published many works on individual freedoms, criminal law and education, including a book on "Constitutional Legality and Human Rights".
Sorour was widely criticized for article 93 of the Egyptian Constituation "The parliament is the master of its decisions", meaning that the parliament could make its decision about membership regardless to any judicial decisions. This article caused significant concerns amidst allegations that the Egyptian parliamentary elections were repeatedly systematically rigged. Sorour continued to assert that the parliament is the competent authority to decide as to the validity of its memberships despite the widely acknowledged allegations of rigging [3]. Following the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Sorour's parliament was dissolved and article 93 was referred for revision.
In the aftermath of the revolution in Egypt (January 25, 2011- February 11, 2011) the Supreme Military Council, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, was appointed to the position of Acting President. The Supreme Military Council dissolved the Egyptian Parliament which was headed by Sorour. This came following widespread allegations that the elections leading to this parliament, headed by Sorour, were rigged [4]. On February 14 2011 the Egyptian daily news Alwafd reported that the ruling military authorities opted to prosecute a senior member of Sorour's team for allegedly burning confidential documents in Srour's office. The same newspaper reported that a restraining order was issued preventing Sorour from entering the parliament building following allegations of smuggling undisclosed documents from the building. [5]. Sorour is seen among the figures that caused the fall of Mubarak's rule. Some see that Mubarak's mistake was that he has increasingly given too much latitude to his son's cabal, including Ahmad Fathi Sorour, among others [6].
Fathi Sorour openly supported measures taken to crack down on the pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt. In a televised interview with Elmehwar TV Sorour was asked for an opinion on the US disapproval of the Egyptian authorities' action: disconnecting internet services in an attempt to halt the demonstrations. Sorour replied that the US "did more than that when it was subjected to terrorism", portraying some similarity between pro-democracy demonstrators in Egypt and the terrorists who attacked the United States. Sorour subsequently stated that he didn't view the pro-democracy demonstrators as terrorists[7].
A report published by the Egyptian daily news Alwafd listed a number of incidents in which Sorour allegedly influenced the process of appointing unqualified individual to senior official posts on grounds of favoritism [8].
In light of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Sorour was jailed for 15 days pending investigations regarding embezzlement of public funds and illicit wealth, corruption and fraud in the most recent parliamentary elections in April 2011.
| Parliament of Egypt | ||
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| Preceded by Rifaat el-Mahgoub |
Speaker of the People's Assembly | |
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