CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood Secretary General Mahmoud Hussein has declared that the “Semli Document,” which outlines supra-constitutional principles drafted by deputy prime minster Ali el-Selmi, set to preserve the authority of the military through the advent of Egypt's first parliament, is “dead.” His comments regarding the controversial document came during a press conference last Sunday. He warned that anyone who attempted to revive the defunct principles “would die with them,” claiming that the document became obsolete along with the collective resignation of the government of former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and his cabinet of ministers on November 21. The document, which protects the power of Egypt's ruling military council, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), has been met with fierce criticism from across the spectrum of Egypt's political groups. Protesters who took to the square on November 18, the first of nine days of sustained conflict between state security forces and anti-government demonstrators, were there initially to demand the immediate withdrawal of the controversial documents. According to the principles of the document, the SCAF has granted itself full authority to hand pick 80 of the 100 members of the upcoming parliament's constitutional assembly, which will be tasked with drafting the nation's first post-Mubarak constitution. The move severely limits the capacity of parliamentarians to wield any significant power, as its primary task lies in drafting the nation's first constitution. Additionally, if the assembly fails to draft a constitution within six months, the SCAF also wields the authority to form a new constitutional committee, according to the document. Perhaps most controversially, the document mandates that authority over the military and its budget remain completely outside of government and civilian oversight. Members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood are particularly vocal about their opposition to the document, after making sweeping wins in the first phase of Egypt's parliamentary elections. With the Selmi document in place, even their parliamentary majority could mean little, with the SCAF set to hold on to any hard power in the nation. Egypt's interim military rulers have sworn to transfer power to a democratically elected, civilian-led government after presidential elections, which they now say will be held before the end of June 2012. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/m5HmA Tags: featured, Muslim Brotherhood, Selmi Document Section: Egypt, Latest News
