After lengthy debates, the draft amendments to 34 constitutional articles have finally come to light, reports Gamal Essam El-Din On Sunday, following a month and a half of debate, the People's Assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee (ALCAC) completed the process of drafting the 34 constitutional articles which President Hosni Mubarak had asked be amended on 26 December. The drafts were sent to the Shura Council yesterday. The council will meet today to lay down the rules for debating the drafts. Moufid Shehab, minister of state for parliamentary and legal affairs announced that the Shura Council will begin its own two-day debate of the drafts on Saturday. Following this, they will be sent back to the assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee. The final drafts will then be discussed by the assembly during a plenary session expected to be held before the end of March. No sooner had the drafts been made public than they came under sharp attack from opposition and independent MPs. The liberal-oriented Wafd Party, which had provisionally approved the request to amend the 34 articles, now argues that the drafts finalised by ALCAC are, "a setback to reform" in the words of Wafd MP and Wafd Party leader Mahmoud Abaza. He likened articles 88 and 179, specifically, to "poison dropped in a well, polluting all the water." He added that his party had welcomed President Mubarak's 26 December initiative, believing that it contained progressive aspects. These include banning parties based on religion, eliminating socialist articles and emphasising the principle of citizenship. "But when ALCAC's initial drafts came up for debate last Sunday, I was shocked by the revision of articles 88 and 179." he said. Contrary to assurances from senior NDP officials that changes to Article 88 would not eliminate the full judicial supervision of parliamentary elections. "ALCAC's initial draft of the article, clearly aimed at ending such supervision," said Abaza, arguing that "eliminating the principle of a judge for every voting box" opens the door wide to vote rigging. He added that ALCAC's draft for Article 179 " gives the police absolute authority in combating terrorism at the expense of the freedoms and liberties enshrined in articles 41, 44 and 45 of the constitution. It is an attempt to constitutionalise the police state and emergency measures." After the final hearing session over the amendments last Thursday, ALCAC formed a sub-committee mandated to draft the amendments. The sub- committee comprised Parliamentary Speaker Fathi Sorour, ALCAC Chairwoman Amal Othman and her three deputies, Ibrahim El-Gogary, Omar El-Taher and Hassan Harridi, Abaza, Abdel-Ahad Gamaleddin, the parliamentary spokesman for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), Kamal Ahmed, spokesman for the independent bloc in parliament, Mohamed Dakrouri, President Hosni Mubarak's legal advisor, and Ramzi El-Shaer, a constitutional law professor. Othman, El-Gogary, Dakrouri, El-Shaer and Gamaleddin are members of the NDP's powerful Policy Committee, led by Gamal Mubarak. The sub-committee began drafting the articles on Saturday, during the first of three three-hour meetings held in camera. When the drafts were finally put up for discussion on Sunday evening Abaza was joined by Kamal Ahmed in criticising the results. "The drafts are a step back, not forwards," said Kamal, who condemned the revision of Article 76 for making no provisions for independent presidential candidates. Kamal questioned why the sub- committee had been able to produce the drafts in so short a time. "It serves to reinforce the impression that the drafts were prepared beforehand and that the hearing sessions were just a smokescreen." Muslim Brotherhood MPs complain that they were excluded from the sub- committee. Sorour retorted to this by by saying that there is no officially recognised Brotherhood bloc in the People's Assembly. Brotherhood and independent MPs then decided to boycott the three-day debate over ALCAC's initial drafts. Brotherhood MP Mohamed El-Beltagi announced the group's objection to making the principle of citizenship the basis for Egypt's political system. "Banning parties based on religions means rejecting religion though it is a basic component of Egyptian society," argued Beltagi. "The principle of citizenship was added to Mubarak's list of proposed amendments at the last minute for political reasons. In the name of citizenship the NDP aims to remove independent forces like the Brotherhood from political life." El-Beltagi went on to argue, citing the principle of citizenship in Article 1 as conflicting with Article 2 -- which stresses that Islam is the religion of Egypt and Islamic law the main source of legislation. Meanwhile, on Monday, a group of leading intellectuals and journalists called upon Mubarak to amend Article 2 on the grounds that it is discriminatory. In the face of opposition and independent attacks NDP deputies rallied behind the drafts. Veteran NDP MP Kamal El-Shazli said he supported all the amendments, including eliminating "the appointment of a judge for every voting box". "The role of judges should be confined to the main polling stations while auxiliary polling stations should be left to administrative officials to supervise," he said. NDP officials also spoke in defence of draft Article 179. "It is a tool to help prevent terrorist acts like the brutal murder of 58 foreigners in Luxor in 1997," said Saad El-Gammal, chairman of the Arab Affairs Committee. Speaker Sorour insists fears that Article 179 will restrict freedom and human rights are unfounded. "The implementation of this article will be under judicial supervision," he said, "which provides all the guarantees needed."
