PRESIDENT Mohamed Morsi's decision to submitting the draft constitution to a referendum on December 15 could be construed as a solution to the present divisions in the political arena. They were exacerbated by the presidential decree issued on November 21, which gives the president unprecedented power, even over the judiciary authority. Since issuing the decree, the presidency affirmed that the decree was temporary and meant to protect the Constituent Assembly from an expected Constitutional Court ruling on the assembly's illegality before the draft constitution could be completed. Hence, the CA rushed to finish the draft and handed it over to the president, who in turn submitted it to a referendum on December 15. The aim is to put an end to this controversial decree once the electorate votes in favour of the new constitution. But what if the citizens decide that the constitution does not meet their expectations or fulfil the requirements to create a civil and democratic state? Will an overwhelming ‘no' prolong the presidential decree, against which millions of citizens rallied in Tahrir and many other squares across Egypt? In other words, do the citizens really have a choice to say ‘yes' or ‘no' to the new constitution? All political movements that led the protests against the decree were actually opposing the flawed configuration of the CA and its tendencies when writing a constitution likely to give birth to a religious State and deprive Egypt of its moderate Islamic nature. When protesting against the November 21 decree, different political parties, unlike the Islamists, actually protested against the draft constitution, particularly after tens of civilians withdrew from the CA. In response to the intransigence shown by the presidency and the Islamists when enforcing their vision on the nature of political institutions in general and the constitution in particular, some civil powers and judges contemplate boycotting the December 15 referendum. They object to the policy of imposing a de facto state that is contrary to the populations' will. However, boycotting the referendum would be a grave mistake; it won't discourage the Islamists from passing the controversial constitution. Instead, the civil powers should launch systematic media and other campaigns against the draft constitution to reveal and explain its many faults and deficits that violate the goals of the January 25 revolution, which pertain to dignity, equality and social justice. Hopefully, the president will work on ending the present polarisation between Egyptians by reaching a compromise that allows immediate amendments to the constitution's flawed articles. This could be undertaken by professors specialised on constitutional law and then submitted to a further vote.
