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Tentative Agreement Reached on Egypt's Draft Constitution

by Edward Yeranian November 30, 2013

The head of the committee drafting Egypt's new constitution told journalists Saturday that tentative agreement had been reached on all 247 articles of the new document and that it would be presented to interim President Adly Mansour by mid-week.

Egyptian security forces fired tear gas at clusters of protesters outside a courthouse in central Cairo Saturday, where a student leader was being interrogated by prosecutors. The crowd of mostly secular activists were protesting a recent law limiting public demonstrations.

Several dozen activists were arrested Tuesday after taking part in an unauthorized protest. A controversial new law, which imposes stiff fines and prison terms for unauthorized gatherings, has met resistance from both Islamists and secular activists.

At the same time, veteran Egyptian politician Amr Moussa, who heads a 50-member committee drawing up Egypt's new constitution, held a press conference to say that his body had agreed on all articles of the document and that Egypt was back on the right track.

He said that much has been accomplished and that he hopes everyone will support this constitution in the upcoming referendum, because it is the best path for Egypt to move forward from a state of chaos to a state of stability, from stagnation to economic growth and from social backwardness to a state of progress for all elements of society.

The new draft constitution is expected to be put to a popular vote in February. The new document will replace another controversial constitution enacted last year by ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

Editor and publisher Hisham Kassem said that he plans to support the new draft constitution, despite having reservations over "20 to 30 percent of the document," because its approval, he thinks, will put Egypt back on the right track to becoming a democratic nation:

'It's not ...the best of constitutions, but it's going to mean that we move to the next stage of parliamentary elections, presidential elections, which means that, contrary to a lot of what has been said and written, Egypt is moving in the direction to become a democracy one day soon, in the near future,' Kassem said. 'So, my vote then is yes, because that is what takes us forward.'

Egypt's army deposed democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi last July, and suspended a constitution that was adopted with 63.8 percent of the vote in a nation-wide referendum held over two days last year. Only 33 percent of Egyptians participated in that constitutional referendum.

Egyptian state TV was broadcasting an open session of the constitutional committee Saturday, as it voted to approve each of the new constitution's 247 articles. It was not immediately clear how long the session would last.