I am afraid the commission's decision paves the way to mass rigging. We are used to ministers or ministries ignoring court verdicts, but for the head of the Constitutional Court and judges to disrespect court rulings is very serious and unprecedented.

There was a misunderstanding of the PEC statements. The PEC allowed civil society monitors to visit the polling booth and not to monitor the electoral process. This means that monitors were allowed to enter for a few minutes and not stay throughout the whole day.

The government is not ready now for the election and they are not ready because they are afraid to be defeated or lose badly like they did in the parliamentary election.

The government wants to block the independence of the judiciary. Judges are speaking out against arbitrary laws and repression of individuals, and so the authorities feel they must stop them.

Ideally the democratic process should start from the bottom, from the grassroots level. But with the dictatorial regimes and rigid laws controlling almost all areas of civic life, it is highly impossible to bring democracy in Arab countries in this way. The democratic process in these countries would need a strong push from outside.

The decision reflects the grim reality faced by the judiciary in Egypt.