The 50-member committee mandated with drafting Egypt's new constitution has almost finalised its work. The committee is expected to take a final vote on the text early next week. According to Mohamed Salmawy, the committee's media spokesperson, the remaining work is expected to be completed by 3 December, a few days ahead of the deadline. “Nobody can give a precise date for the final vote. It depends on how long the intensive debates over controversial issues last,” says Salmawy. On the sidelines of a meeting with representatives of farmers and workers on Monday, Committee Chair Amr Moussa said, “the 50-member committee will finish its work at the end of this week and the draft will be ready for a final vote early next week — most probably on Saturday.” Other sources say the final vote will be on Sunday, 48 hours before the committee's timetable expires. The vote could take two days, depending on the support articles command in the first reading. According to Moussa, “the constitution widens the scope of freedoms in an impressive way… it reinforces the principle of gender equality and ensures a complete separation between religion and politics.” On Monday the committee began a 12-hour closed-door meeting which lasted until the small hours of Tuesday. In a press statement following the meeting Moussa said the committee had almost finalised a complete draft of the new constitution. “The draft constitution and its preamble now need to be revised by the 10-member technical committee for any textual irregularities,” he said. “I would urge all Egyptians to read the draft constitution very carefully and in doing so they should recognise that this charter was drafted to reflect the cultural diversity of Egypt, grant more freedoms, and ensure that the country is in harmony with the spirit of this modern age.” Moussa announced that “the committee exerted tremendous efforts to ensure articles won a consensus among members before being put to a final vote.” On Monday and Tuesday committee members were able to bridge differences over 18 of the most controversial articles. Moussa declined to disclose how consensus was attained, though according to one source “the committee reached a decision that any quota system must be eliminated altogether” and progressive taxation should be adopted as a guiding principle of fiscal policy. Until Al-Ahram Weekly went to press there was no news on the fate of Egypt's second chamber. Al-Sayed Al-Badawi, chairman of the Wafd Party, submitted a request for another vote on whether an upper house should be retained. Al-Badawi believes that the first vote lacked authority because several members were absent. “I think that Egypt needs an upper house to vet legislation and would like to see a second vote,” he said. Salmawy told the Weekly the new constitution would comprise 242 articles, 31 more than the 1971 constitution and six more than the charter drafted by the 2012 Islamist dominated constituent assembly. “Earlier I said there would be 241 articles, but then the committee endorsed a new article late on Thursday obliging the state to fight terrorism. As a result, the new total number of articles increased to 242,” said Salmawy. They break down as follows: 51 articles in the chapters on the state and foundational principles of society; 59 articles in the chapters on freedoms, rights and public duties; and 132 articles in the chapter on the system of governance. Salmawy did not disclose who proposed the new article on terrorism though sources suggest it was the representatives of the ministries of defence and interior. “When the new article was proposed,” said Salmawy, “a majority of members insisted government policy in fighting terrorism must comply with international conventions and observe human rights.” “The new article will oblige the incoming parliament to draft a new anti-terrorism law which grants the state greater powers in fighting these kinds of crimes, especially in exceptional times.” The article on terror reads: “The state is obliged to fight all forms of terrorism following the definitions put forward by the United Nations and to mobilise to uproot its intellectual, societal and material sources… without violating public rights and freedoms…” “Once the final draft has been revised by a 10-member committee of judicial and constitutional experts it will be discussed in a closed door plenary session by basic and reserve members (100 members).” Once this step is over, Salmawy indicated, the draft constitution will be put to a final vote in a televised meeting. Predictably, the most contentious articles included the power of the president to appoint ministers to four key portfolios — defence, foreign affairs, interior and justice — and whether or not civilians could be referred to military courts. Article 198 of the 2012 constitution stated that civilians could be tried before military courts in cases of crimes that “harm the Armed Forces”. The amended article allows “conditional” military trials of civilians in cases involving “direct attacks on military premises, camps, properties and factories; attacks on military zones and border areas, and attacks on military vehicles or personnel while they are carrying out their duties”. Crimes involving military documents, secrets or funds are also included. The new constitution will stipulate that the defence minister must be a member of the military and must have the approval of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Article 174 — a temporary article — states that, for the next eight years, the defence minister is to be appointed by the president from the ranks of the Armed Forces, with any candidate subject to the military council's approval. Amr Al-Shobaki, chairman of the system of governance sub-committee, indicated that in drafting the article the committee had taken into account the army's year of experience under the Muslim Brotherhood regime of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. “We hope that during the next eight years the relationship between the president and the army will improve and old suspicions disappear,” said Al-Shobaki. The question of the representation of workers and farmers in parliament also saw heated debates. Since the 1960s, 50 per cent of parliamentary seats have been allocated to the two groups. The quota was removed last week. On Monday Moussa criticised “maintaining the 50 per cent quota in place since 1964”. “The quota was manipulated for political reasons. Workers and farmers must seek another formula capable of achieving their interests, including setting up political parties to press their interests in parliament.” The preamble of the constitution, drafted by poet Sayed Hegab, also left members divided into two camps. The first, led by the Nour Party's representative Mohamed Ibrahim Mansour, the representative of Al-Azhar Mohamed Abdel-Salam, and the Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Abdel-Karim, objected to the inclusion of the word “civilian” claiming it reflected secular and Western values. The Nour's Mansour also insisted that the preamble define Islamic Sharia and its sources of interpretation. Secularists and representatives of Egypt's churches rejected this, insisting that if any definition of Islamic Sharia be included in the preamble it will be the one put forward by the Supreme Constitutional Court. Church representatives and those of secular forces requested that the word “civilian” be retained. Coptic Church representative Bishop Paula threatened to withdraw if the word was omitted while Tagammu Party representative Hussein Abdel-Razek argued “the word civilian is necessary not only to stress that Egypt is not a religious state but to reflect the 30 June Revolution's demand that religion be separate from politics.” The preamble begins by stating that “Egypt is the gift of the Nile” and the “eternal homeland for all Egyptians and its message is of peace and love for all peoples”. It also states that “Egypt is the land of all Abrahamic religions.” The preamble reviews the history of modern Egypt, focussing on the Revolution of 1919, which instituted the principle of “Egypt is for all Egyptians and religion is for God and the homeland is for all,” and the 1952 Revolution which began as a military coup and then turned into a popular revolution which secured national independence and put an end to colonial rule. It then moves on to the 25 January and 30 June revolutions, stressing their goals of social justice, national independence and greater freedoms and rights.
