Cairo - The administrative court ruling on Tuesday ordering the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly (CA) assigned to hammer out Egypt's new constitution has been variously described as “historic” and a “fatal mistake”. The 50:50 composition of the CA of members from in and outside parliament had actually drawn the resentment of non-Islamist powers right from the beginning. Yet, the issue took further dimensions when the final assembly chart was tinted with Brotherhood affiliation signifying that the constitution could not possibly express the diversity of Egyptian society. A tug-of-war had been going on for weeks as the parliamentary Islamist majority insisted on going ahead with the CA mission against the withdrawal of liberal minded members and of representatives of major institutions as Al-Azhar, the Coptic Orthodox Church, trade and professional unions. With the increasing number of departures, the meetings were eventually bound to come to a dead end. So herein comes the ruling to reinforce the stand of those objecting to see Egypt's post-revolution constitution inclined to the viewpoint of one single trend. Although Islamist say the ruling is defective; on the other hand, it could be a face-saving pretext for the Muslim Brothers to reconsider their inexcusable, albeit comprehensible monopoly of the assembly. The time and effort wasted in one of the most critical stages of the establishment of a new political system would not have occurred, if Article 60 of the March 2011 Constitutional Declaration had clearly stated the criteria for the assembly membership and the mechanism of such voting. The people of Egypt expect nothing less than a balanced assembly reflecting this country's religious, political, cultural and ethnic diversity so that each and every citizen would see himself or herself in the constitution produced. The situation at the moment then dictates that either the Military Council issue an amendment to the Constitutional Declaration or the legislature considers a bill specifying membership criteria. There remains the response of the Justice and Freedom Party, whether it would consider the national interest above its own or contest the ruling.
