In a 'chaotic' meeting with Egypt's deputy prime minister, a member of the liberal Adl Party criticises attempts by the ruling military council to control the drafting process of the new constitution A member of the liberal Al-Adl Party slammed an army-sponsored draft of the supra-constitutional principles which were discussed Tuesday in a meeting held at the Cairo Opera House and attended by over 500 political figures, describing the proposed principles as “disastrous." Party member Ahmed Shoukry stormed out of the meeting, declaring that the articles in the new draft were unacceptable and gave the ruling military council undue powers. The meeting was organised by Ali El-Selmy, the deputy prime minister, to discuss both a draft of the supra-constitutional principles and the criteria by which members of the constituent assembly, charged with drafting the new constitution, will be chosen. However, Shoukry said that the meeting was disorganised and chaotic. He added that the draft of the supra-constitutional principles included articles that would give the ruling military council the right to interfere both in the process of drafting the new constitution and shaping the role the constituent assembly will play in putting together that draft. For example, the draft, according to Shoukry, would give the military council the right to reject the new constitution if the generals feel that any of the articles contradict the constitutional declaration they announced last March. Shoukry also added that the last article in the draft stipulates that if the constituent assembly is unable to put together a new constitution in six months, then the military council has the right to choose a new assembly to do the job. This, he adds, gives the military council undue powers, as the newly elected Parliament is solely tasked with forming the new constituent assembly and not the military council. Hafez Abu Saeda, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, also pulled out of the meeting due to the presence of many old regime members. The meeting was boycotted by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya and the Salafist Nour Party in addition to a number of political and civil society organisations and figures. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/25719.aspx
