On Monday Egypt's Interim President Adli Mahmoud Mansour issued a 33-article constitutional declaration which will regulate a transitional period envisaged to last for six months. It began with the issue of the constitutional declaration and is scheduled to end with presidential elections early next year. Parliamentary elections are planned ahead of the presidential poll. The declaration will be automatically cancelled should an amended version of the suspended constitution win the support of the majority in a referendum. The new constitutional declaration gives the president the right to issue legislation after consulting with the cabinet until the election of a new parliament. He has also the right to declare a state of emergency but only with cabinet approval. Mansour's swearing-in ceremony came a day after Minister of Defence Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi responded to the masses' will and announced that Mohamed Morsi was no longer president. Morsi had refused to call early presidential elections despite the fact that tens of millions of Egyptians were in the streets demanding he resign. Mansour, 67, won a scholarship to France's Ecole Nationale de l'Administration. A long-serving judge under former president Hosni Mubarak, Mansour was appointed as head of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) last May. According to the military statement issued on 3 July, Mansour will serve as the country's interim president until a new president is elected. After taking his oath as interim head of state, Mansour praised the demonstrations that led to the toppling of Morsi. “The great demonstrations of 30 June brought together everyone without discrimination or division,” he said. In a brief speech, he said he was honoured by his appointment, praising the “great Egyptian people, the master, the leader and the source of powers” as well as saluting the army, the judiciary, the police and the media for the significant role they played in bringing about the momentous change. The people, said Mansour, had brought the “glorious” 25 January 2011 Revolution back on track on 30 June. He urged the public to stick to the revolution's principles, and end “worship of the ruler”. Born in Cairo in 1945, Mansour graduated from the Faculty of Law, Cairo University in 1967 and joined the State Council in 1970. In 1992 he became deputy head of the SCC. In 2012 Mansour headed constitutional hearings which ruled against the law of “political isolation” which has sought to ban members of the old regime from contesting elections. Mansour's first constitutional declaration, issued on 5 July, dissolved the Shura Council. The declaration was declared shortly after Mustafa Hegazi was appointed his political adviser and Ali Saleh adviser on the constitution. The second article of the declaration appointed Mohamed Shehata, head of General Intelligence, as Mansour's security adviser. Mohamed Farid Tohami was appointed the new head of General Intelligence, replacing Shehata who had been promoted by Morsi following the attack on an army checkpoint in Rafah last August which left 16 soldiers dead. Mansour also appointed veteran writer Sekina Fouad as interim presidential adviser for women's affairs and TV host Ahmed Al-Musallamani as media adviser. Liberal leader Mohamed Al-Baradei was appointed as deputy president for foreign affairs. Minister Hazem Al-Beblawi was assigned with forming the cabinet. Al-Beblawi was a former finance minister and deputy prime minister for four months during the transitional period following the 2011 revolution. He has recorded a number of economic blunders by the current government. On 6 July the interim president met with leaders of the Tamarod campaign at Al-Ittihadiya presidential palace. During the meeting, attended by campaign spokesman Mahmoud Badr and founding members Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Hassan Shahine, the roadmap for the transitional phase and the formation of a new cabinet were discussed. The interim president also met with representatives of the Strong Egypt Party. Again, the transitional roadmap was the main topic of discussion. Mohamed Al-Mohandess, member of the Strong Egypt Party, stresses that it is essential for Mansour to discuss issues of national interest with political forces before taking any decisions. During the meeting all political powers insisted that the Armed Forces would remain outside the political scene. “It is essential that political forces begin national reconciliation efforts to put an end to any exceptional measures taken by the Armed Forces,” said Al-Mohandess.
