THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A LITTLE BIT OF GLASNOST:

Egyptian judges threaten to disrupt elections unless reforms are implemented (Agence France Presse, April 07, 2005)

Egypt's judges have rallied mounting calls for political reforms, asking for a long-due separation of powers between the judicial and executive branches and threatening to disturb upcoming presidential polls. The Egyptian Judges' Club - Egypt's equivalent of a judges' union - presented a draft law to Parliament via left-wing opposition MP Abu al-Ezz al-Hariri late last month that seeks to amend the current judiciary law and guarantee their independence from the executive branch.

"A new judiciary law must be passed during the current parliamentary session [ending in June] before we consider supervising any future elections," said a statement released by the Judges' Club general assembly in Alexandria.

The judges are due to meet on April 14 and examine whether "to abstain from supervising the elections if a new law is not passed," one union member said.

Some are "even calling for a sit-in or a strike but we're trying to dissuade them because we want to resort to dialogue rather than a confrontation," added Hisham Bastawissi, who also sits on Egypt's court of cassation.