CAIRO: The Cabinet will announce a “governing” charter of constitutional principles in three weeks, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Al-Selmy said on Wednesday evening. He explained during an iftar held by Al-Wafd Party that Cabinet's charter will “govern” the new constitution, adding that it will combine the charters proposed by political powers, especially Al-Azhar's. He added that political powers are currently discussing the charter. It wasn't clear how binding Cabinet's proposed charter is intended to be. Earlier in the day, political powers — including Islamist groups opposed to the idea of supra-constitutional principles — agreed on a charter proposed by Al-Azhar. The charter would only be “advisory,” not binding. Using the term “govern” instead of saying “supra-constitutional principles” was an attempt by Cabinet to “numb” political powers who opposed the idea of binding principles, according to professor of constitutional law in Cairo University, Raafat Fouda. “There's no such thing as supra-constitutional principles,” head of Al-Wafd Party, Al-Sayed Al-Badawy told Daily News Egypt on Wednesday. “The constitution is the highest set of principles in any state.” Islamist powers including the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafis and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya had described these principles as an attempt to ignore the people's will. Last March, 77.2 percent of voters approved a referendum on constitutional amendments which charted a clear political path of holding legislative elections before drafting a new constitution. According to the approved amendments, a 100-member constituent assembly will be chosen by the elected parliament to draft the constitution within six months of its appointment. The new constitution would then be approved by a referendum within 15 days of its completion. Al-Azhar sought to mend the rift among political powers caused by the constitutional debate. The political groups that approved its charter on Wednesday include Al-Wafd, Al-Ghad, The Free Egyptians, Freedom and Justice, Al-Adl and Al-Karama parties, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic group and Salafi leaders. However the revolution Youth Union and El-Tahrir Party rejected Al-Azhar's charter, labeling it “invalid” and “against Islam.” El-Tahrir Party said in a statement issued Wednesday that Islam only acknowledges “the caliphate state” referring to the reign of Prophet Mohamed and his followers. The statement added that the term “democracy” which depends on separating religion from state is a “foreign” term to Islam and is derived from capitalism and the idea of people governing themselves with their own legislations. “Democracy was advocated by the infidels of the West to the Muslim world,” the statement read. The party also opposed the point where Al-Azhar approves committing to international treaties and decisions, considering it a clear encouragement from Al-Azhar to establish relations with Israel and export gas to it, while it continues to occupy Al-Aqsa mosque and the rest of Palestine. “It also means that Al-Azhar approves the Security Council's decisions, which is dominated by America and a few other powerful countries,” Mohamed Abdel-Qawi, leading member of the party, told Daily News Egypt. Abdel-Qawi described his party as a “political party” based on Islamic principles. The Islamist parties and groups that attended the meeting and approved the charter expressed some reservations, except for the FJP. Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya said in a statement issued on it Facebook page Thursday that it wanted to add “Egypt is an Islamic state, not a secular one,” to the charter, but most of the political powers refused the idea of a secular state. Several Islamist groups commended Al-Azhar for not using the term “civil” in its charter which is usually interpreted as “secular.” Instead, Al-Azhar wrote, “National, constitutional, democratic, modern state.” Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya noted that article referring to the source of legislation should be referred to as the “rules of Islamic sharia” instead of its general principles. The group explained that freedom, equality and “shoura” (literally consultancy) are the general principles of Islam, claiming that the majority rejected the idea of a secular state. The group also said that free, direct elections, the transition of power and the legislative authority of the people's assembly were in compliance with Islamic Sharia, refuting El-Tahrir Party's claims. The statement said that these amendments would eliminate their concerns that the liberals and leftists want to impose secularism on Egypt. Fouda described the charter as, “ink on paper” that could be used in drafting the new constitution or not. “It's up to the constituent assembly's judgment,” he said. Fouda added that there was no entity that had the constitutional or legal authority to impose certain principles on the constituent assembly which will be assigned to draft the constitution. Former vice chairman of the State Council, Justice Tarek El-Beshry said that the importance of Al-Azhar's charter lies in its moral value as a renowned institution. Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb said during his meeting with political powers on Wednesday that this charter didn't mean that Al-Azhar was going to play a political role in Egypt's futures. “On the contrary, it stems from the national role played by Al-Azhar and rooted in its history,” he said. Both Fouda and El-Beshry believed there was no point in announcing a constitutional decree including any of the charters, because it is considered a temporary constitution that would be annulled once the new one is drafted by the constituent assembly. “All these charters should be considered advisory not binding,” El-Beshry concluded.
