| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Egyptians Approve New Constitution. Some Notes. |
| 2011-03-21 |
| A constitutional referendum was held in Egypt on 19 March 2011, following the 2011 Egyptian revolution. The proposed constitutional reforms include a limitation to at most two four-year terms for the president, judicial supervision of elections, a requirement for the president to appoint a deputy, a commission to draft a new constitution following the parliamentary election, and easier access to presidential elections, either via 30,000 signatures from at least 15 provinces, 30 members of a chamber of the legislature, or nomination by a party holding at least a seat in the legislature. Opponents to the new constitution: An opposition coalition (including presidential candidates Amr Moussa and Mohamed ElBaradei, the New Wafd Party, the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, the National Progressive Unionist Party, the el-Ghad Party and the Egyptian Arab Socialist Party) criticised the proposed amendments as not enough and that the new constitution needs to be written immediately to regulate the process and the requirements for members of parliament. They also said that the president's power was not limited enough under the proposed changes. The Christian Church was also opposed to the amendments. As did the reformist faction of the Muslim Brotherhood. Proponents of the new constitution: The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi movement think that the amendments are suitable for the time being and that the situation in Egypt is not suitable to write a new constitution at the moment. They have suggested that Article 2 of the constitution (which states that Islam is the Religion of the State. Arabic is its official language, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence) will be removed or altered if the proposed changes are not approved even though the constitutional amendment committee said that Article 2 will not be touched. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a very popular TV theologian on al-Jazeera, with some 40 million viewers, advised Egyptians to approve the referendum. The National Democratic Party (NDP), Mubarak's old party, also have asked their base to vote Yes. The Muslim Brotherhood and the NDP are also perceived to be in favor of an approval because early elections could benefit them the most as they already have the biggest grassroots support while smaller and newly-founded parties would have little time to prepare for elections in the planned schedule. One of the more interesting deletions in the new constitution is the elimination of Article 179: "The Socialist Public Prosecutor shall be responsible for taking the measures which secure the peopleÂ’s rights, the safety of the society and its political regime, the preservation of the socialist achievements and commitment to socialist behavior. The law shall prescribe his other competences. He shall be subject to the control of the PeopleÂ’s Assembly in accordance with what is prescribed by law." In any event, a completely new constitution is expected to be drawn after the elections, by the new parliament. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |