Mahmoud Mekki (; born 1954) is an Egyptian politician who served as the vice president of Egypt from August 2012 to December 2012. He was appointed by President
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 20122011 revolution and the 2012 presidential election on 12 August 2012. He was Egypt's first vice president from a civilian background rather than a military one. He resigned from his post on 22 December 2012.
Early life and education
Mekki was born in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
in 1954. After graduating from police college in Cairo he worked as a police officer in Central Security Forces. He then got a bachelor's degree in law and worked in general prosecution (). A few years later, Mekki became a judge. Working his way up the judicial ladder, he was eventually appointed vice-president of the Court of Cassation (
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: محكمه النقض)., which represents the final stage of criminal appeal in Egypt.
He is younger brother of Ahmed Mekki, the former minister of justice in the
Qandil Cabinet
The cabinet of Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Qandil was sworn in on 2 August 2012. Qandil was appointed by President Mohamed Morsi, following the resignation of military-named premier Kamal Ganzouri. The cabinet consists of 36 ministers. The co ...
.
Career
Since the mid-1980s, Mekki, along with a large number of Egypt's judges, were engaged in advocating judicial independence, an idea which was brought to light at the time by Yehia Rifai, Chairman of the Egyptian Judges' Club at the time. Brothers Ahmed and Mahmoud Makky alongside Hossam Ghariani and others were demanding separation of the executive authority over courts and the transfer of judicial inspection to the Supreme judicial Council.
Makky headed the follow-up elections in the Judges' Club, and coordinator of the movement of the independent judges. In 2006, he led demonstrations for independence of the judiciary from the executive. Makky also demanded the amendment of article 76 of the Egyptian constitution to allow multiple presidential candidates to run for elections. In 1992, Makky headed a strike by judges to request the release of two judges who they claimed had been unfairly detained.
In 2005, Makky was arrested and tried. During the trial of Makky in 2005, the
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
showed intense solidarity with him during the trial. Salim Al-Awa and a large number of lawyers pleaded with him. In 2006, he was cleared of the charge.
Makky had a popular position in 2006 when he surprised the judges and the broad masses huddled in front of the High Court after the end of the first session of the disciplinary trial for Makky and ran quickly towards Major General Ismail Shaer, director of Cairo security. He held him by his hands and said to him "Do you know Omar?", Shaer replied "Yes, he is my late son," Makky replied "If you really remember him, then pray from him and stop police brutality against youth demonstrators since they are all the same age of your late son." People who saw the incident said that Shaer nearly cried while he listened to these words.
In 2010, he moved to
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
, and was appointed vice-president of Kuwait's Court of Cassation. He returned to Egypt in August 2012 upon the proposal by President Morsi to be his deputy. On 22 December 2012, Mekki resigned from his post, stating that "I have realized a while ago that the nature of politics does not suit my professional background as a judge." The post of vice presidency of Egypt was also abolished after the constitutional referendum in December 2012. However, after the overthrow of President
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 20122013 Egyptian coup d'état
The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat or the Counter-revolutionary, Counter-revolution is an event that took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected President of Egypt ...
, the position of the vice presidency was briefly restored by Acting President Adly Mansour, who appointed
Mohamed ElBaradei
Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei (, ; born 17 June 1942) is an Egyptian law scholar and diplomat who served as the vice president of Egypt on an interim basis from 14 July 2013 until his resignation on 14 August 2013.
He was the Director General of ...
to the post of acting vice president on 7 July 2013. After his resignation Makky assumed the role of the chairman of a national dialogue forum to consolidate political forces with the Qandil cabinet.
President Morsi appointed Makky as Egypt's Ambassador to the
Vatican City
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...