No Interior Minister, the state asks for more time: "They misled the court"

The Movement for Quality Government filed an urgent request this evening (Thursday) to the Supreme Court for an order nisi and to schedule an urgent hearing on the petition regarding the appointment of an Interior Minister. According to the movement, the state presented to the High Court of Justice an intention to appoint an Interior Minister, but the appointment was not made and now it is requesting another delay.

In the petition, it is claimed that in a hearing held in May, there was an agreement between the parties that the absence of an incumbent Interior Minister creates a significant legal and practical difficulty, especially in light of the approaching elections. According to the state's announcement, 24 powers regarding the management of elections are vested in the Interior Minister, some of which cannot be delegated to a public servant who is not a minister.

In a decision given on June 1, the court ordered the state to update on efforts to rectify the situation and clarified that the continued handling of the petition would be determined according to the content of the update notice.

After four requests for extension, the state announced on August 3 that the Prime Minister intends to appoint an Interior Minister during the election period. Following this, the court ruled that the state would update upon the execution of the appointment or by August 26, whichever is earlier.

However, according to the movement, the state has now submitted a notice stating that "so far an Interior Minister has not been appointed," and requested to submit another update in 30 days. According to the movement, the state did not explain why the appointment it announced was not made, and did not detail what steps have been taken since then to promote it.

The Movement for Quality Government claims that the state presented to the court an intention to appoint an Interior Minister in order to prevent the issuance of an order nisi, and is now ignoring its previous notice and requesting another delay. The request claims that this conduct amounts to "fraud and misleading of the court and the movement."

The movement asked the court to issue an order nisi that would instruct the government and the Prime Minister to explain why an Interior Minister should not be appointed immediately on a permanent basis and why the transfers of his powers to the Prime Minister should not be cancelled. In addition, it requested to schedule an urgent hearing on the petition.

"The court clarified that the continued handling of the petition would be determined according to the state's update. Afterwards, the state announced that the Prime Minister would appoint an Interior Minister, and based on this notice, an order nisi was not issued. Now there is no appointment, no explanation, and not even a reference to the previous notice - only a request for another 30 days," the Movement for Quality Government stated.

It was further stated: "In our position, the state misled the court in order to prevent the issuance of an order nisi. The elections are approaching, and in the absence of an Interior Minister, the essential powers of the Interior Minister are not being exercised. It is forbidden to allow the continued foot-dragging on this very important issue."