| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Technical committee to propose radical changes to Egypt's 2012 constitution |
| 2013-08-19 |
| [Al Ahram] A 10-member technical committee entrusted with amending Egypt's 2012 constitution has almost finished its task. The committee was formed under Article 28 of the constitutional declaration issued by Interim President Adly Mansour 8 July and is headed by Mansour's legal advisor, Ali Awad. In a presser Sunday, Awad told parliamentary correspondents that the committee will finish its work Monday, with the new draft constitution expected to be announced Wednesday. The new constitution will form the bedrock of Egypt's new post-30 June revolution's political roadmap, aimed at turning the country into a fully democratic state under civilian rule. Sources close to the committee told Ahram Online Sunday that after almost one month of thorough revision, the committee's members concluded that "fundamental changes must be introduced to 2012 Islamist-backed constitution." "The 2012 constitution was drafted under the former regime of the Moslem Brüderbund to grant Islamists an upper hand and a final say in Egypt's political future, and this must be changed now," a committee source told Ahram Online on condition of anonymity. He added that "When the people revolted 30 June, their main goals were not confined to removing Mohamed Morsi from power, but also changing the fundamental pillars of the religious tyranny the Moslem Brüderbund regime tried its best to impose on Egypt." Within this context, the source revealed that members of the committee reached consensus that the new constitution must impose a ban on political parties based on religious foundations. This would mark a return back to Article 5 of 2007's constitutional amendments introduced by the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... . It stated that, "It is not permitted to pursue any political activity or establish any political parties within any religious frame of reference (marja'iyya) or on any religious basis or on the basis of gender or origin." The committee source said, "The return to the 2007 constitution's Article 5 was necessary after we saw that dozens of political parties were clearly formed on religious foundations and that their main objective was to turn Egypt into a religious state." The source explained that "the anticipated ban gained momentum after the committee received requests and proposals from more than 400 political, economic and social institutions, pressing hard for the necessity of safeguarding Egypt against Islamist factions trying to change the civil nature of the country into a religious oligarchy." ... derived from the Greek words oligos, a fewand the verb archo, to rule, to govern, to command. Oligarchies are invariably effectual rather than established, to whit, they disguise themselves as other systems, working as the real government behind the face of of democracy, fascism, socialism, monarchy, or what have you... The source, however, argued that "as a return back to a constitutional article that was drafted by the Mubarak regime is expected to stir up a lot of controversy, the new constitution will keep Article 2 of 2012's Islamist-backed constitution -- which states that Islamic Sharia is the main source of legislation -- in place." Chairman of the committee Ali Awad told parliamentary correspondents last week that Article 2 on Islamic Sharia will be retained "in order to stress the Islamic identity of Egypt." The article, however, will be primarily maintained so as not to give a reason to Islamist factions -- especially the ultraconservative Salafist party of El-Nour -- to boycott the next stage's of the political roadmap. Chairman of El-Nour Younis Al-Qadi warned last week that "the party would withdraw from the upcoming political process if it found out that the articles stressing Egypt's Islamic identity were revoked from the next constitution." According to the source, most political institutions have recommended that "if it is necessary to keep the Islamic Sharia article in place as a nod to Islamists like El-Nour, it is by no means necessary to maintain the 2012 constitution's separate article (Article 219) that delivers an interpretation of Islamic Sharia." Mohamed Abul-Ghar, chairman of the Egyptian Democratic Socialist Party and a member of the National Salvation Front that helped lead the 30 June revolution against the regime of Mohamed Morsi, told Ahram Online that "while Article 2 on Islamic Sharia was first instituted by late President Anwar El-Sadat in 1980 and has never faced objections from most political forces since then, it is by no means plausible to turn the constitution into a religious national charter by filling it with as many Islamist articles as possible." "Article 219 leaves Islamic Sharia clearly hostage to medieval interpretations that could give legitimacy to the ideology of Islamist radicalism and jihadism," Abul-Ghar argued. |
| Posted by:Fred |