An under-defined Constitution (Opinion)
- The draft of a new Egyptian Constitution was approved by 98% votes in January 14-15 referendum.
- There was an above average turnout of 38.6% (41.6% turnout was seen during ouster of Hosni Mubarak in 2011) & President Mr.Morsy was overthrown.
- Provisions of the draft constitution :
- President gets upto 2 terms of 4 year each
- national Parliament powers can impeach the head of state
- guarantees equality between men and women
- bound by international human rights treaties which Egypt has ratified
- bans the closure of media bodies
- replaces administrative court removals of programmes or individuals with criminal procedures
- ends prison sentences for press and other public-expression offences.
- artists, writers, and filmmakers will no longer be liable to lawsuits by individuals who find their work irksome.
- The sour areas in this draft are :
- gives absolute freedom of religion
- bans political parties based on “religion, race, gender or geography” (which may exclude Freedom & Justice Party – has close links with Muslim Brotherhood)
- military will appoint Defence Minister for 8 yrs, showing their reluctance to relinquish control
- Government retains legal power to regulate right to strike, resented to by trade unions
- Overall, 529 of Morsy supporters were sentenced to death for killing a police officer in Aug 2013 (after the coup), but 383 tried in absentia without hearing defence arguments.
- The draft Constitution leaves far too much to executive and legislative discretion.
Exams Perspective:
- Arab Spring
- Road to Democracy in Egypt
- Egyptian Coup
- Draft Constitution in Egypt