CAIRO - The People's Assembly (PA [Lower House of Parliament]) on Sunday started receiving applications from Egyptians, including members of the PA and Shura Council (Upper House of Parliament) who want to be members of the Constituent Assembly (CA), which will draft the new Egyptian Constitution. Every MP will be allowed to nominate members from both houses of Parliament, including himself or herself, on the condition that the number of MPs nominated does not exceed the 50 per cent quota. Applicants have until 12pm on Wednesday to submit their applications. Egyptians are eager to see the new Constitution, which, they hope, will represent all of them. As for the members who aren't MPs, it has been agreed that MPs will make their choices in a joint parliamentary meeting. Parliamentarians can choose from among public figures and representatives of key institutions. The winners must garner 50 per cent plus one vote in both houses of Parliament. Several representatives from political and revolutionary youth groups have rejected the proposed plan, saying that the Islamists want to ‘dominate' the Constituent Assembly. On Saturday, Parliament agreed that half the members of the 100-person assembly charged with drawing up the new Constitution will be chosen from within Parliament and the rest from other parts of society. Some Egyptians are happy about this; others aren't. Some 427 out of 590 deputies voting in a joint session of the upper and lower houses of Parliament voted for a 50-50 division in the Constituent Assembly that will chart out the future of Egyptian democracy. The new Constitution will determine the powers of the next president and Parliament following the ousting of Hosni Mubarak last year. It is expected that the president will be able to serve for a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms. Egyptians in the streets are divided. Some of them disagree on the ratio of Parliament, saying that this was not announced before. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party had said it wanted 40 members of the assembly to be from Parliament and the remaining 60 to include legal and constitutional experts and members of unions. “The CA should pick 40 MPs or fewer, to give a big chance for all Egyptian people to participate,” Iman Mohsen, 48, an employee, told The Egyptian Gazette, adding that many of the MPs chosen will be Islamists. However, Mahmoud Ibrahim, a computer instructor, said he doesn't mind how many MPs serve on the Constituent Assembly. “Let's just on with it, as we need a new constitution for all Egyptians,” he told this paper. Walid el-Kashef, a 26-year-old computer engineer, says that he totally trusts the MPs who represent the Egyptians. “We have chosen them to represent us and they are qualified to do the job,” he stresses. The Free Front for Peaceful Change, however, yesterday denounced the PA's decision concerning the selection of the members, saying that the PA refuses to listen to revolutionary demands and civil society. The Free Front said that the Constitutional Declaration that defines the regulations for the CA elections is vague; it believes that the members of the CA should be experts in different fields. “How can a contemporary majority form a permanent constitution?” the Free Front asked in its statement yesterday, adding that it was like this before the January 25 Revolution, which erupted to destroy such ways.
