URGENT: US PPI declines by 0.2% in May    Egypt secures $130m in non-refundable USAID grants    HSBC named Egypt's Best Bank for Diversity, Inclusion by Euromoney    Singapore offers refiners carbon tax rebates for '24, '25    Egypt's CBE offers EGP 4b zero coupon t-bonds    G7 agrees on $50b Ukraine loan from frozen Russian assets    EU dairy faces China tariff threat    Over 12,000 Egyptian pilgrims receive medical care during Hajj: Health Ministry    Egypt's rise as global logistics hub takes centre stage at New Development Bank Seminar    Blinken addresses Hamas ceasefire counterproposal, future governance plans for Gaza    MSMEDA, EABA sign MoU to offer new marketing opportunities for Egyptian SMEs in Africa    Egypt's President Al-Sisi, Equatorial Guinea's Vice President discuss bilateral cooperation, regional Issues    Egypt's Higher Education Minister pledges deeper cooperation with BRICS at Kazan Summit    Gaza death toll rises to 37,164, injuries hit 84,832 amid ongoing Israeli attacks    Egypt's Water Research, Space Agencies join forces to tackle water challenges    BRICS Skate Cup: Skateboarders from Egypt, 22 nations gather in Russia    Pharaohs Edge Out Burkina Faso in World Cup qualifiers Thriller    Egypt's EDA, Zambia sign collaboration pact    Madinaty Sports Club hosts successful 4th Qadya MMA Championship    Amwal Al Ghad Awards 2024 announces Entrepreneurs of the Year    Egyptian President asks Madbouly to form new government, outlines priorities    Egypt's President assigns Madbouly to form new government    Egypt and Tanzania discuss water cooperation    Grand Egyptian Museum opening: Madbouly reviews final preparations    Madinaty's inaugural Skydiving event boosts sports tourism appeal    Tunisia's President Saied reshuffles cabinet amidst political tension    Instagram Celebrates African Women in 'Made by Africa, Loved by the World' 2024 Campaign    Egypt to build 58 hospitals by '25    Swiss freeze on Russian assets dwindles to $6.36b in '23    Egyptian public, private sectors off on Apr 25 marking Sinai Liberation    Debt swaps could unlock $100b for climate action    Financial literacy becomes extremely important – EGX official    Euro area annual inflation up to 2.9% – Eurostat    BYD، Brazil's Sigma Lithium JV likely    UNESCO celebrates World Arabic Language Day    Motaz Azaiza mural in Manchester tribute to Palestinian journalists    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Divided Egypt: Protests at court force delay over government legality
Published in Bikya Masr on 02 - 12 - 2012

CAIRO: Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters of Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi have congregated outside the country's top court on Sunday, forcing a planned session to review the legality of the Upper House of Parliament and the Constituent Assembly that recently finished the draft constitution.
The constitution will now go to a referendum on December 15.
The constitution has been at the center of anger by liberal and secular activists, who are demanding that it guarantee freedoms. As it currently stands, there are no clauses that give women equality in the country, which could give way to mass fears that women's rights will be turned back by the predominantly ultra-conservative forces who drafted the document.
The Supreme Constitutional Court did not say when it would reschedule hearings in cases that threaten to further complicate a political crisis ignited by President Mohamed Morsi's November 22 assumption of sweeping new powers.
Several hundred Muslim Brotherhood supporters chanting slogans demanding the “purging of the judiciary” had crowded outside the court building from the early hours of Sunday.
Egypt's newly empowered Islamists are deeply suspicious of the Supreme Constitutional Court, which ruled in June in favor of dissolving the Brotherhood-led lower house of parliament.
Last month, women's rights groups also condemned the assembly, arguing that they were attempting to remove all women's rights in an “act of aggression toward women."
The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) said in a statement that the cancellation of a number of women's rights clauses is “planned aggression against Egyptian women" and demanded that women and their rights are protected in the new constitution.
“In the light of intimidating the Egyptian women and seeking to attack their rights by some dominant mainstream in the constituent assembly of the constitution, the Egyptian society was shocked due to the announcement, on behalf of some members of the committee, on the cancellation of article 68 from what is known as the draft of constitution," ECWR said in their statement.
Article 68 had guaranteed the rights and equality of women and men in all sectors of society, including political, cultural, economic and social life “and all other fields without prejudice to the provisions of Islamic Shari'a.
“The State provides the services of motherhood and childhood for free. The state ensures the women's health care, social and economic rights and the right of inheritance and reconcile with her duties towards the family and her work in the society. The state provides protection and special attention of household, divorced, and widowed women and others of women who most in need," read Article 68.
The rights group urged the constituent assembly to abide by the understanding that men and women are equal under Egyptian law.
“The need to include specific references aiming at establishing the principle of equality between women and men, addressed ‘women and men', instead of the signals or ambiguous and general words such as ‘personals and citizens or individuals'. The reference of women or men in the preamble reinforces the idea that says women and men are equal in the constitution and both of them have the same rights and duties, and they are treated equally without any discrimination," ECWR continued.
Women's rights have become a major focal point in the new constitution, with a number of conservatives on the assembly pushing to revoke many of the gains achieved in the years leading up to the Egyptian uprising, including divorce rights, economic rights and the age of marriage. Salafists – Islamic puritans – have been calling for the age of marriage to be lowered as well as the cancellation of woman's right to divorce.
But it hasn't stopped the Brotherhood from pushing forward on what they continue to say is the will of the people after it and the Salafists earned 50 percent in the now deposed Parliament in elections late last year.
Brotherhood activists in several cities passed out fliers calling for people to come out and “support Islamic law." A number of Muslim clerics in Friday sermons in the southern city of Assiut called the president's opponents “enemies of God and Islam."
The country appears extremely divided at the current moment, with both groups claiming legitimacy over the future of the country. Opposition leaders have called on Egyptians to protest Morsi and continue the revolution that began in January 2011 and ousted Mubarak.
For now, many activists tell Bikyamasr.com that they plan on remaining in Tahrir and pushing a media and public campaign against the constitution in order to vote it down to “ensure the rights of Egyptians and the dignity of those who were killed in the 18 days of revolution."


Clic here to read the story from its source.