Twenty-one political parties issued a joint statement on Monday demanding that President Mohamed Morsy suspend the Constituent Assembly until the State Council Administrative Court rules on whether or not it should be dissolved. Signatories to the statement included the Tagammu Party, the Arab Nasserist Party and the National Party of Egypt. The statement expressed reservations regarding the preliminary draft of the new constitution. The parties called on the president to ensure that the Constituent Assembly accurately reflects the diversity of Egyptian society. They also demanded that Al-Azhar be named the institution responsible for interpreting Article 2 of the constitution, which states that the principles of Sharia are the main source of legislation. Other articles singled out for critique included Article 136, which allows individuals with dual nationality to run for president, and Article 130, which allows former presidents to become permanent members of the Senate. The current draft of the constitution grants overly wide powers to the president, abolishes the position of vice president and gives the prime minister the authority to act as president in his absence, the statement went on to say. The parties also demanded that Article 1 be revised. The article states that the Egyptian people are part of the Arab and Islamic nations, but the statement argued that Egypt cannot be compared to countries such as Malaysia or Afghanistan just because they share the same religion. They also said that the draft impinges on women's rights, and that the authority of the Supreme Constitutional Court is undermined by the president having the power to appoint all its members. In a counterpoint to that statement, Freedom and Justice Party figures announced on Monday that the party is preparing to mobilize citizens for a “yes” vote on the new constitution. FJP executive commission member Nagi Naguib told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the party would hold nationwide rallies to familiarize people with the new constitution and mobilize votes in its favor. “We will relay all the remarks we get to the Constituent Assembly,” Naguib said. “And we will take the opinion of other political parties.” He added that party leaders will meet with different political parties all over the country to discuss their concerns in the draft constitution. His colleague, Ahmed Ibrahim, said the party aims to reach compromise over the new constitution in the near future. Ibrahim said that FJP would distribute copies of the draft to citizens and parties, adding that all the party's offices across the country would host these rallies. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
