CAIRO - Liberal and secular political groups have started a campaign to collect 15 million signatures to step up pressure on the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) to draft the country's Constitution ahead of holding parliamentary polls, while Prime Minister Essam Sharaf is set to discus the issue on Sunday. "Volunteers from about 70 political parties and youth groups will start to collect signatures for the Constitution to be drafted ahead of the polls. They will talk to people outside mosques after the Friday prayers and outside churches on Sundays," read a statement by the Free Front for Peaceful Change, which is organising the campaign. The statement added that the campaign had already gathered a quarter of a million signatures in only three days. "A conference will be held on Sunday to announce the mechanisms through which we can receive e-signatures," it added. The statement also pointed out that a petition has been forwarded to the SCAF, urging the Constitution be drafted first. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, meanwhile, is to hold talks with political parties' chiefs on Sunday to decide whether the parliamentary elections, set for September, will take place before the drafting of a new constitution or vice versa. Premier Sharaf had previously said that he would rather postpone the parliamentary elections and draft the Constitution first, although this contradicts with last March's referendum, endorsed by the people. A nationwide debate has erupted over which of the two pivotal events should precede the other, with many people from across the political spectrum campaigning for delaying the parliamentary elections. The Constitution First call gained further momentum when a ‘National Consensus' conference, organised by the Government and led by Deputy Prime Minister Yehia el-Gamal, stated that “Egypt is in urgent need of a constitution first ahead of any elections.” Amr Hamzawi, the founder of the in-the-process-of-being-established Egypt Freedom Party, said the current security and political conditions are not right for elections to be held. "The elections can never be held within three months. This will usher in an undemocratic parliament that does not represent the people," Hamzawi warned, adding that Egyptians need a period for raising political awareness after the revolution and "to ready themselves for democratic practice". However, rejecting the call to draft a constitution first, Islamists, spearheaded by the Muslim Brotherhood and some other Salafist groups, slam such a move as against the will of the people, which was clear in the referendum. "The people agreed with a clear majority to elect lawmakers, who will then draft the Constitution. Drafting a constitution without the people's consent may be catastrophic," Mohssen Radi, a senior Brotherhood member, told The Egyptian Gazette in a previous interview. Radi added that drafting a constitution before the polls would prolong the transitional period. "This risks a political deadlock," he argued. Meanwhile, a dozen local human rights groups last week urged the SCAF to draft the Constitution before holding legislative polls. "Responding to the demand of the Constitution First, which is being made by the majority of political groups, is a logical step that must be taken by the SCAF, after its clear siding with the January 25 revolution," the groups said in a statement.
