Interim President Adly Mansour issued a presidential decree on Wednesday appointing Abdel Fatah Ibrahim as the new representative of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) in the 50-member Constituent Assembly tasked with amending the 2012 suspended constitution. Ibrahim comes to replace former ETUF head Gebaly El-Maraghy. The ETUF voted on 5 September on replacing El-Maraghy with Ibrahim. El-Maraghy was appointed by Mansour as member of the assembly on 1 September to represent the ETUF. Mostafa Rostum, head of the ETUF's International Relations Administration, said that changing the union's representative makes sense. "The change was based on the representative's current post; it wasn't personal," he said. Rostum stated that regardless of whoever represents ETUF in the Constituent Assembly, any proposals put forward to the assembly depend on the decisions of the union's administrative council and committees. "The union's representatives don't take personal stances regarding the constitution drafting," Rostom said. A week before being removed from his post as head of the ETUF, El-Maraghy was prevented from entering a societal dialogue session on the workers union bill held at the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration. The former union head was told his name was not on the list of the attendees, Al-Ahram reported. El-Maraghy has been taking part in the Constituent Assembly's sessions since the first session on 8 September. The assembly has 60 days to amend the 2012 constitution.
