Draft, amendments and all what's in between. The constitution is what brought back the people to Tahrir Square. Consequently, our Youth page team decided to take a closer look. In this survey we've asked 100 young Egyptians from both sexes on their views on the current constitutional draft and the amendments suggested by lawyer Mona Zulficar, who consulted representatives of all civil political parties, legal experts as well as civil society members. Our target age was an average of 25 years old out of which 58 per cent were males, and 42 per cent were females. Forty-two per cent read the constitution, and 80 per cent of the people believed that the Constituent Assembly does not represent all Egyptians. We've picked 12 articles to this survey: Articles: 2, 4, 9, 10, 11, 30 , 67, 43, 44, 51, 48, 150. And people objected to seven out of 12 of the articles reviewed. Among the outstanding comments on the articles and amendments were those viewing the amendments regarding women's equality with men in the constitution as a form of discrimination. Some believed that adding the word mowatenat (women citizens) to Article 30 that states that citizens are equal before the law discriminates between men and women, which is quite ironic because it was added to emphasise the opposite. This explains why 54 per cent agreed to the article, while 46 per cent objected to it. Another interesting aspect was in people's reaction to Article 39 that states that the freedom of belief is protected. The state safeguards the freedom for the establishment of places of worship for God-given religions in a manner to be specified by law. Now, unlike the conservative wave that hit Egyptians lately, 54 per cent disagreed with the article, leaning towards a more inclusive article that respected and accepted any form of religion and all religious practice. Re Article 67 concerning children and their laws, some 68 per cent objected to the current article and favoured the amended version that emphasised children's rights with special reference to the girl child and that the legal age of marriage should be no less than 18 years old. Survey conducted by Amira Fouad Angy Essam Farah El-AKKad Gehad Hussein Mohamed Sameh Nada Barakat
