Presidential machinations and brewing conflicts between Parliament and the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as the Brotherhood and liberal political forces, dominate today's front pages. Privately owned Youm7 declares “Coup” in giant red letters while Al-Shorouk says the Muslim Brotherhood and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces are on the “cusp of a clash.” “The Muslim Brotherhood turns on the Supreme Council of Armed Forces … and secular parties challenge the Muslim Brotherhood,” the subhead reads. On Saturday, a joint session of the People's Assembly and the Shura Council elected members of the constituent assembly that will draft the new constitution. The majority Freedom and Justice Party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, has come under heavy fire from liberal and leftist political forces for the committee's composition, which they allege is Islamist-dominated and does not represent Egyptian society. In keeping with its critical line on the Muslim Brotherhood, privately owned Al-Tahrir has a banner on the top of its page reading, “Congratulations … the Muslim Brotherhood has written the constitution.” “The absence of university professors, women and Copts, the withdrawal of political parties and the presence of ‘unknown personalities' demonstrates that the constitution was drafted in advance!” Al-Tahrir says. Unsurprisingly, the eponymously named FJP mouthpiece newspaper takes a different line. “The people are creating their constitution,” a banner at the top of its front page trumpets. Committee member Mohamed Abdel Gawad dismisses fears of the constitution that an Islamist-dominated committee will produce, telling Shorouk, “I don't understand this great fear of Islamists. … They can't turn Egypt into a religious state that discriminates between citizens on the basis of their religion.” Other reactions reported by Shorouk are less positive; human rights activists are “accepting condolences” for the new constitution, one headline reads, while trade union fury has “exploded” following union sidelining from the constitution writing process. Youm7 reports that the Union of Revolutionary Youth is calling for a million-man demonstration Friday to protest the Muslim Brotherhood's “use of the same techniques employed by the National Democratic Party” to dominate and control political life. Amid continuing speculation about who the FJP will back in the presidential elections, Al-Shorouk reports that the party may nominate one of its own members. This comes after the withdrawal of former Information Minister Mansour Hassan from the presidential race. There were rumors that the FJP would back Hassan. State daily Al-Akhbar has some barely concealed statistical manipulation in today's issue. Headlines on its front page say presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail has gathered the biggest number of signatures of support, followed by Amr Moussa and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. Inside on page four, however, Al-Akhbar lists the actual number of signatures received by each candidate and reveals that Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh and Hamdeen Sabbahi have actually received more signatures of support than Ahmed Shafiq's 32,142, with 65,010 and 37,210 respectively. On its front page, Al-Ahram reports that Abu Ismail suspects there are “plots” of rigging the presidential elections, and that the votes of Egyptians abroad are at risk of being forged because they will stay for seven days in Egyptian embassies with embassy staff. Egypt's papers: Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party Youm7: Daily, privately owned Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party Al-Nour: Official paper of the Salafi Nour Party
