Egyptian judges pushing for reform

When thousands of Egyptian judges gathered in Cairo last week to demand greater independence from the government, they highlighted the entry of a powerful new force in the country's growing reform movement: official institutions.

Long for granted as appendages of the government, some institutions are less willing to tolerate business as usual this election year. The judges' extraordinarily public step is perhaps the most obvious display of resistance, and builds on a similar call by judges in Alexandria weeks earlier.

In small ways, institutions like Parliament and the state-controlled news media also have begun to show a degree of independence. While small groups of protesters demanding greater democracy and an end to President Mubarak's government are taking to the streets, the greatest potential for change may lie in those institutions.

"The return of real politics has put many institutions back in the limelight, and these institutions are beginning to work for change," said Abdel Monem Said, director of the Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, a government-backed research and policy organization.

The institutions are presenting Mubarak with an unexpected challenge from within, one that will be difficult to dismiss.

"The fact is, major changes in this country are going to come out of those institutions, not from the streets," Said said.

The judges, meeting at what they say is their largest-ever gathering on May 13, pledged to stymie the country's elections in September by refusing to oversee the voting unless they are granted full independence in their work. Under Egyptian law, elections are not valid unless supervised by judges.