Amid political tension and against a backdrop of street protests organised by the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, a 10-member committee comprising six senior judges and four constitutional law professors met on Sunday to begin amending Egypt's 2012 Islamist-backed constitution, reports Gamal Essam El-Din. The inaugural meeting of the so-called “committee of experts” was held in the oval office of the Shura Council. Ali Awad, chairman of the committee and Interim President Adli Mansour's adviser on constitutional and legal affairs, said the two-and-a-half hour closed-door meeting addressed procedural issues. Awad told a press conference attended by parliamentary correspondents that at the Sunday meeting it was decided that political forces should have a one week window to submit any proposals to amend the 2012 constitution. “The door will be open for one week from Tuesday 23 July after which any proposals submitted will be reviewed by the 10-member technical committee of experts,” said Awad. Proposed amendments can be sent to the Shura Council on fax number 2792 4315 or by e-mail to: [email protected] or [email protected] Awad denied rumours that the committee already possessed a blueprint of amendments and stressed that members had come under no pressure “that changes be drafted in a certain way”. “It is too early to say which articles of the 2012 constitution will be amended,” said Awad, adding that the committee had agreed to revise the entire 2012 constitution article by article “so that all remarks raised by political forces can be taken into account”. “This revision, in tandem with a review of all changes proposed by political forces, will help in finalising a new draft of the 2012 constitution,” he said. “The revision process will begin in earnest on 23 July, with meetings held daily except for Mondays and Thursdays, divided into morning and evening sessions.” The committee's six judicial members are Mohamed Eid Mahgoub, secretary-general of the Higher Council for Judges; Hassan Bassiouni, a Cairo appeals judge; Mohamed Al-Shennawi and Mohamed Khairi Taha, deputy chairmen of the Supreme Constitutional Court; and Essameddin Abdel-Aziz and Magdi Al-Agati, deputy chairmen of the State Council (administrative courts). The four university professors are Fathi Fekri from Cairo University Faculty of Law; Hamdi Omar, dean of Zagazig Faculty of Law; Salaheddin Fawzi, Mansoura University Faculty of Law professor and Ali Abdel-Aal, Ain Shams University professor of law. Under Article 28 of the constitutional declaration issued by Interim President Ali Mansour on 6 July the experts' committee has 30 days to finish its job. Awad stressed that Article 29 of the declaration states that amendments proposed by the committee will then have to be submitted to a 50-member commission comprising representatives of all sectors of society, including political parties, intellectuals, workers and farmers, professional syndicates, unions, the Islamic Sunni institute of Al-Azhar and Egyptian churches, the Armed Forces and police. The 50-member committee must include 10 representatives of young people and women. The 10-man committee's role is to prepare an initial draft of the constitution. It is the job of the 50-member commission to devise a final draft. Article 30 of the 6 July constitutional declaration stipulates that “after the final draft is submitted to the president of the republic it must be put to a national referendum within 30 days”. If the referendum is approved the president must within 15 days set a date for parliamentary elections. Within one week of the House of Representatives' holding its inaugural session, a date for presidential election must be set. Officials from the Muslim Brotherhood have denounced meetings of the 10-member committee, branding it part of “a coup against legitimacy”. The ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party says it will object to any changes to articles relating to Sharia law. “We oppose any amendments to articles that refer to Islamic Sharia or identity,” said the Nour's chairman Younis Makhyoun. He also insisted that “articles of the new constitution must be reviewed by the yet to be elected House of Representatives before it is put to the public in a national referendum.” The secularist opposition claimed the 2012 constitution, drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly, turned Morsi into a pharaoh with despotic powers, failed to protect freedom of speech and imposed a strict code of Islam on Egyptians. The 2012 constitution was approved in a two-round national referendum on 15 and 22 December 2012, with 64 per cent of those who turned out voting yes.
