The military launches a dialogue with the revolution's youth while contemplating calls for drafting a new constitution ahead of elections, Gamal Essam El-Din reports The Higher Council of the Armed Forces (HCAF) has called for dialogue with the youth movements of the 25 January Revolution in a bid to define common ground. The invitation was extended after several youth movements voiced sharp criticism of the HCAF, accusing it of imposing its will without consulting political forces. This, according to the revolution's youth movements, was made manifest in the issuing of laws regulating the performance of political parties and the People's Assembly, and governing the exercise of political rights. In response, the HCAF issued a statement on its Facebook page 29 May stressing its keenness "to reach a national consensus on the political priorities of the coming stage". "The council urges all political forces to join shoulders and scrap differences in order to reach common ground and not allow rumours and accusations to drive a wedge between the army and the people," said the statement. It stressed that the army "will never allow any force to usurp power without the people's consent". The HCAF statement came against a backdrop of growing fears among secular political forces that the HCAF's policies serve the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist movements. A day later, the HCAF issued an open invitation to dialogue to youth movements demanding a new constitution be drafted ahead of parliamentary elections. "Parliamentary elections should be postponed to allow post- revolutionary secular forces to develop a grassroots presence," said the Coalition of the 25 January Revolution. The coalition decided to boycott the dialogue with the army on the grounds that it was continuing to refuse to open an investigation into the arrest and mistreatment of demonstrators on 8 April. The HCAF further alienated activists by summoning journalists for interrogation before military prosecutors. Meanwhile, the Electoral System Committee affiliated to the National Accord Conference being held at the headquarters of the People's Assembly has recommended that "a constitution be drafted ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections". The committee, headed by Al-Ahram political analyst Amr Hashem Rabie, also recommended that "the 20- year-old individual candidacy system be scrapped in favour of a proportional party-list system which would oblige citizens to elect candidates according to their platforms rather than tribal and familial connections or financial clout." Opposition forces and young leaders of the 25 January Revolution have expressed concern over laws regulating both the performance of the People's Assembly and the conduct of parliamentary elections, scheduled next September. The HCAF's proposed amendments to the 1972 People's Assembly law state that a mix of the individual candidacy and party-list systems will be adopted in September's poll. "The individual candidacy system will be used to elect two thirds of the assembly's seats, while the remaining third will be chosen by a party-list system," reads the draft amendment. The changes maintain the existing quota of 50 per cent of seats reserved for representatives of workers and farmers, and 64 seats for women. Higher Council of the Armed Forces (HCAF) member Mamdouh Shahin says "the amendments refrained from revoking the quotas allocated to farmers, workers and women because such changes are beyond our mandate." "It will be the job of the new parliament to draft a new constitution to decide whether the above quotas be maintained or not." The amendments, Shahin continued, adopted a mix of the two systems "to allow independents and party-based candidates to run". Although Shahin indicated that changes to the People's Assembly law will be subject to public discussion before any ratification by the HCAF, most political forces have already criticised them. The majority of secular opposition parties are united against the draft law, largely because it continues with the individual candidacy system. Rifaat El-Said, chairman of the leftist Tagammu Party, argues that "the amendments send a very negative signal about reform". "Continuing individual candidacy means new elections will result in a parliament dominated by businessmen and old guard MPs, as was the case throughout the Mubarak era." Sameh Ashour, chairman of the Nasserist Party, wonders why "the HCAF insists on maintaining the system of individual candidacy responsible during the last 30 years for the proliferation of vote-buying, thuggery and violent acts". Saad El-Husseini, a member of the Brotherhood's Higher Supreme Guidance Bureau, insists the group is indifferent to whatever system is in place as long as it "gains the broadest margin of approval from political forces". The 25 January Revolution's youth movements were most vociferous in their criticisms. The spokesman of 6 April movement, Tarek El-Khouli, said "the new amendments should be rejected out of hand because they continue the individual candidacy system exploited by Mubarak's regime and his ruling party to monopolise political life. "Amendments to political laws should be the fruit of national dialogue among all political forces rather than the product of discussions behind closed doors," says coalition member Mustafa Shawki. "The individual candidacy system will produce a new parliament dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood in much the same way that it used to produce parliaments controlled by Mubarak's ruling party." Shawki also points out that the changes fail to address the voting rights of Egyptians living abroad. Objections to the new People's Assembly law are expected to be the subject of the Tahrir Square rally planned for Friday. Independent political analysts are less critical of the new amendments. Rabie deplores that "the amendments of the People's Assembly law were drafted without first consulting political forces" and believes "the amendments should be more in favour of the party-list system". "The proportions should have been reversed, with two thirds of seats elected via the party-list system. This would have helped eliminate long- standing rigging practices mainly caused by the individual candidacy system and have served to undermine tribal and familial patterns of voting." Hussein Abdel-Razek, a leading member of the leftist Tagammu Party, is worried that the dual system will cause confusion. "Introducing a mix of two electoral systems makes it unnecessarily complicated for citizens -- millions of whom are illiterate -- to elect parliamentary representatives. I think that all political forces agree that there should be a switch from individual candidacy, to a proportional party-list system which obligates citizens to elect candidates according to their programmes." The amendments are currently being discussed by a national dialogue committee which, says Rabie, will forward recommendations to the HCAF for a final decision. (see pp.2-6)
