There are numerous opinions and demands with regard to what should be incorporated into the new constitution. Often these demands seem to reflect the narrow concerns or interests of certain groups or sectors of society. Therefore, they are not necessarily conducive to the development of the political system and to overcoming the attrition that Muslim Brotherhood rule wrought on many facets of the Egyptian state. Current political and social realities are such that the participation of a number of civil society organisations in the formulation of the constitution has become a necessity. In view of the current fluidity, distortions and deficiencies in society, there is a need for vision, foresightedness, and a will to reform, build and establish the solid foundations for a modern democratic state. This, in turn, requires the capacities to draft a constitution that is contemporary in spirit and capable of supporting fundamental human rights and civil liberties, dismantling the stays of totalitarian ideologies, fostering a robust civil society, strengthening the political party system and enhancing political party life, and establishing an autonomous judiciary.
WHY CIVIL SOCIETY?: Progress in the development of a proper democratic system of government is clearly contingent on a modern constitution that takes into account the demands of the current phase. These include measures that are needed to safeguard the expanded scope of political and social participation and to support civil society in its capacity as one of the essential realms for promoting social reintegration and cohesion, which will ultimately be more effective in isolating extremist thought than the mere isolation of individual extremists. But how would civil society contribute to formulating the constitution and how influential can it be in this process? We need to bear in mind that this process is essentially about creating a new social contract between citizens and the state in the wake of a great revolution that was waged to bring down — on 30 June — a totalitarian regime that sought to impose its ideology and control over society. The political and social impact of this regime was profound, although the damage it wrought at the social level was undoubtedly greater as within a very short time — a year in power — it succeeded in exacerbating social polarisation to an unprecedented degree.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES: The participation of components or organisations of civil society in drafting the constitution, whether directly or indirectly, must be based on the nature of the functions and responsibilities that civil society performs, on the one hand, and on how civil society represents social forces, on the other. In addition, the task of drafting a constitution at a revolutionary moment that imposes its conditions on all requires an unconventional approach. For example, there needs to be detailed linkage between philosophy and legal frameworks in laying the foundations for decentralised government, and the degree of decentralisation, the creation of local government assemblies and councils, the tax system and its relationship with social justice, the business community's social responsibility towards the state and society, social insurance, etc. In this context, it is important to affirm a set of values or indicators that society should bear in mind with respect to the constitution: - The principle of citizenship: As a guiding value this means the rights and duties to which the state must adhere in order to enhance them in substance and translate them into social and political realities conducive to the development of a state for all its citizens. - The right to knowledge: This value relates to access to information, data and statistics as an essential civil right that is crucial to public awareness of decision-making processes, effective accountability and oversight mechanisms, ensuring transparency and integrity in government, and proper planning. It is also important in order to combat corruption and to ensure the broadest possible space for free expression and self-criticism. - Decentralisation: This value or indicator entails the realm occupied and represented by the political system and the degree to which it coincides with society's culture, on the one hand, and the extent to which government is personalised and deinstitutionalised on the other. This can be clarified by testing a number of paradigms for the relationship between the state and society, or even at the level of each government or community institution. In general, there must be broader horizons for cooperation and partnership between local administration and the private sector or community sector, towards which end it is important to foster an environment conducive to such cooperation. - Social justice: This principle entails the need to ensure economic equality, institutionalisation, transparency, accountability and social responsibility so as to promote sustained development, to fight poverty and to attain other goals related to social justice, thereby ensuring the just relative distribution of a set of values in society and realising relative equality between citizens in, for example, income, education, access to healthcare, etc. - Empowerment: In addition to broadening the scope and enhancing the ability of the people to participate in decision-making processes, this principle also involves expanding the capacities of the people to choose among various alternatives with respect to how to achieve social prosperity. - Assimilation and cooperation: Promoting this principle requires setting certain determinants for increasing public participation in the various fields of political, economic and social life. - Personal security: The protection of the individual from all sources of threat, whether related to warfare or to contagious disease, is one of the most crucial human development indicators as it reflects the degree to which the right to life is safeguarded for all members of society. - Sustainability: This is the ability to meet the basic needs of citizens over successive generations, which in turn entails the development of a strategy to realise the prosperity of the individual and ensure his effective participation in decision-making processes. - Cultural authenticity: This is based on shared values among the divinely revealed religions, the principle of openness to the other, a culture of tolerance, the renovation of religious exegesis, and a focus on creative human diversity.
THE DESIRABLE RELATIONSHIP: To be more precise, public input together with the affirmation of a system of civic values and a proper and shared understanding of a range of terms and concepts should work towards the realisation of the aims of the 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2013 revolutions. These aims were epitomised in the slogans, “bread, freedom, social justice” and “human dignity, national independence and territorial integrity”, and they need to be translated into a reality that is embodied in the constitution and in the political, economic, cultural and social orientation of the state. This is why it is so important to ensure broad public participation, through the people's political and social organisations, in the drafting of the constitution, for this will also be a key to promoting awareness on the constitution and mobilising support for its passage when it is put to a referendum. There are a number of concepts connected with the role of civil society and its relation to the state in this phase of construction and reform that need to be underscored in order to ensure that this phase is one of the phases of democratic transformation: - The processes of building societies that are undergoing democratic transformation must be balanced in a way that helps society overcome various negative phenomena and political and economic weaknesses. - The question of popular participation is intimately related to such issues as citizenship, human development, democracy, human rights and sound governance. The opportunities for enhancing these principles are contingent upon opportunities for building a democratic state and laying the foundations for a healthy, robust society capable of achieving sustained development and a citizenry empowered with the ability to make the choices that promote and sustain a dignified life. - Stimulating frameworks and mechanisms that promote participation and the assumption of responsibility contributes to countering many phenomena that are detrimental to the stability of society and “social security”. Among such phenomena are political violence and terrorism, a decline in values of tolerance and dialogue, the rise in such phenomena as apathy and addiction, all of which are related to a range of causes, foremost among which is the relationship between the individual and his responsibilities and his awareness of his basic rights and his role in society. Leaving aside the question of the ability of civil society to advocate its viewpoints and controversy over the scope and mechanisms for its participation in the drafting of the constitution, it is essential to take into consideration the fact that the more civil society is included in the process of assessing what should be incorporated into the constitution the more we will be able to encourage this experience and subsequently build on it in order to overcome and eliminate many of the obstacles that have hampered civil society's efficacy and influence. While it is true that the proliferation of NGOs and the development of civil society since the 1990s have helped society overcome many contradictions and economic difficulties, it is equally true that civil society lacked the capacity to induce the larger public to participate effectively in matters pertaining to government policy and promoting democratisation. It also lacked the ability to transform its relationship with the government to one based on full partnership. As a result, it remained in a subordinate and functional position, to serve as a provider of alternative policies for decision-makers to choose from and, in the best of circumstances, as a partner in the execution of policy. In light of the foregoing, it appears that the greatest challenge to the current reform and development process, and to the transition to a democratic transformation process, is contingent, to a considerable degree, on the ability to develop the relationship between the state and society and to determine the place of civil society in this relationship. The success of the democratic model rests on the degree to which we furnish the political, cultural, economic and social structure conducive to strengthening the progress that the transformation process has achieved. As the political culture and the state of the economy and society are crucial factors in building and giving root to a democratic system, it is all the more important to underscore the need for effective participation by some components of civil society now. Their participation will help broaden the process of citizen empowerment and furnish a mechanism for change to offset the effects of the disintegration of the middle class.
The writer is editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Ahwal Masriya.
