The 100-member Islamist-dominated committee, at the heart of a polarizing battle between secularists and Islamists, moved to complete the draft before a Supreme Constitutional Court hearing Dec. 2 in which its legitimacy is being challenged. The panel's predecessor was disbanded following a court ruling.
About a quarter of the new committee's members had withdrawn, arguing Islamists are seeking to dominate the process and impose their vision for the country without regard for broader national interests. Eleven representatives were replaced and 85 were in attendance at the start of voting, Hossam el- Gheriani, the head of the committee, said in a live television broadcast.
Among the most divisive of the draft charter's articles was one dealing with whether Shariah, or Islamic law, would be the main source of legislation for the nation. The panel left the clause unchanged to read "principles of Shariah" were the main source.
Escalating Tensions
"What's happening today in terms of speeding up the vote on the final draft of the constitution robs the committee of being a national committee," Mohamed Adel, one of the co- founders of the April 6 youth movement that helped Mursi win office, said in an e-mailed statement. "It has become one operating under the orders of the president of the republic to cook up a constitution that removes President Mursi from the current political crisis."
The vote comes amid escalating tensions that boiled over this week with mass demonstrations against Mursi's Nov. 22 edict shielding his decisions from judicial review and giving the committee immunity from dissolution by the courts. Mursi said the decree is temporary and not a power grab, as critics contend.
Egypt's benchmark stock index has plunged more than 11 percent amid unrest since Mursi issued the decree. His government is seeking to revive an economy that stalled after last year's revolt against Mubarak, as tourists and investors stayed away. Egypt has reached a preliminary agreement with an International Monetary Fund team for a $4.8 billion loan, with the fund's board expected to meet next month to review the country's request.
Cairo Demonstrations
Renewed demonstrations are expected tomorrow. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Cairo and other cities on Nov. 27 to denounce Mursi's decree and call for the dissolution of the committee. The protests left more than 200 wounded, according to health officials.
The Muslim Brotherhood is planning a Dec. 1 mass rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square in support of Mursi's decree. In a statement, the group urged Egyptians "to stand together against all attempts at agitation and misinformation, and to work to continue the march of democratic transformation." Mursi may also address the nation today, MENA cited Rifaa El-Tahtawi, the head of the presidential office, as saying.
April 6's Adel said the Brotherhood's call for protests Saturday in Tahrir was a call "for a small-scale civil war" and that the plaza would become a "graveyard for the revolution instead of its incubator."
The new charter, if approved, would be sent to Mursi. The president then has to put it to a national referendum.
Temporary Transfer
Pushing ahead with the process "is a way to try to end the constitutional and legal vacuum in the country that's been going on for almost two years," Yasser El-Shimy, Middle East analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said by phone from Cairo. "But we would have liked to see a more consensual approach."
The draft charter also approves the temporary transfer of legislative authority to the upper house of parliament, which currently only has a consultative role, until a new lower house is elected, MENA said. Under an earlier edict, Mursi took legislative authority after the lower house was dissolved.
"Egypt's constitution now no longer includes an obligation not to discriminate against women = ZERO protection for women's rights," Heba Morayef, Human Rights Watch Egypt director, wrote on her Twitter account.
Military Trials
The draft also includes articles allowing for the military trials of civilians for crimes related to the armed forces, and the establishment of a National Defense Council responsible for the armed forces' budget and laws related to the military.
The charter will also bar former senior officials in Mubarak's ruling party from holding office for a decade, the state-run Ahram Gate website reported. A similar law was struck down by the constitutional court earlier this year.
The draft enables the army to be a "state within a state," Ashraf el-Sherif, adjunct lecturer in political science at the American University in Cairo, said by phone. "This is a military, Brotherhood and Salafi constitution."
"These are the groups that wrote it," he said. "This is not the constitution of Egypt."
To contact the reporters on this story: Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo at teltablawy@bloomberg.net ; Mariam Fam in Cairo at mfam@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net
===
Sent from Bloomberg for Blackberry. Download it from the Blackberry App World!
Sent from my BlackBerry®
No comments:
Post a Comment