Archive for constituent assembly

Constitutional Court sets 15 January deadline for review of pending cases

by admin
December 30th, 2012

 

The Supreme Constitutional Court set 15 January as its deadline for reviewing all pending cases, including those related to the legitimacy of the Shura Council and the Constituent Assembly.

The court convened its general assembly on Sunday to discuss its work in light of the new Constitution and the end of the sit-in staged outside the court by supporters of President Mohamed Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood.

It was its second meeting since the removal of seven judges as mandated by the recently approved Constitution.

The SCC suspended its work on 2 December, saying that protesters staging a sit-in had prevented judges from entering the court. In a statement at the time, the judges said they were facing assaults against their independence and that the sit-in was an insult to the judges.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Ahmed Shafiq: presidency not involved in mediation over return to Egypt

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December 30th, 2012

Former prime minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq denied that the Egyptian presidency has intervened to allow his return to the country.

Local media have reported that a number of public figures are mediating with the Egyptian presidency to drop the charges filed against Shafiq in preparation for his return to Egypt.

Shafiq said in a press statement on Saturday that reports of the presidency’s role in this mediation were “pure fabrication and lies.”

The last prime minister in former president Hosni Mubarak’s regime, Shafiq fled to Dubai in June after the prosecutor general began an investigation into allegations of corruption during his government service.

Shafiq also criticized Egypt’s new Constitution.

“I cannot in any way accept to participate in any understanding based on a rejected constitution, and a Constituent Assembly that has nothing to do with the majority of the people of this country, in addition to systematically rigging the will of Egyptians, in all elections and referendums that have took place including the presidential election,” he said.

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Supreme Constitutional Court convenes, with fewer judges

by admin
December 27th, 2012

The Supreme Constitutional Court convened its general assembly for the first time Thursday following the removal of seven judges as mandated by the recently approved constitution.

Article 233 of the new Constitution, which was officially approved on Tuesday, stipulates that the 10 longest-serving judges among its members make up the court, in addition to the current president. Previously the court's bench was comprised of 18 judges, some of whom are being reassigned to their previous positions.

Six members have returned to their previous jobs for other courts: Hamdan Fahmy, Ragab Selim, Mahmoud Ghoneim and Hatem Bagato as commissioners for the Supreme Constitutional Court, Hassan Badrawy  to the Court of the Cassation and Polas Fahmy to the Cairo Court of Appeals. The seventh former judge, Tahani al-Gebali, who worked as a lawyer before her appointment to the court, resumed her legal practice.  

A government source told Al-Masry Al-Youm he expects the Shura Council to pass a law delineating the powers of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The source added that this would not affect the cases currently being considered by the court.

Morsy supporters, who have staged sporadic demonstrations this month to pressure the court not to dissolve the Shura Council or the Constituent Assembly, ended their sit-in on Tuesday after the official referendum results were announced.  

The court has been in confrontation with ruling Islamists since it issued a verdict in June dissolving the Islamist-dominated lower house of Parliament, ruling that sections of the parliamentary elections law were unconstitutional.  

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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State commissioners recommend reinstatement of Al-Ahram chair

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December 25th, 2012

The state commissioners, an advisory body within State Council, have recommended that the court invalidate the appointment of Mamdouh al-Wali as head of the Al-Ahram Foundation and reinstate the former head, state television reported Tuesday.

The state commissioners’ decision is not binding, and the court is not obligated to rule how they have recommended.

The former head of the foundation, Abdel Fattah al-Gibaly, had challenged the Shura Council’s decision to dismiss him, citing Article 64 of Law No. 96 which stipulates that the chair of the foundation serves for a term of four years. Gibaly was appointed in November 2011 and thus should have served until 2015, but he was removed in September 2012.

Gibaly’s complaint added that he had not reached retirement age or submitted his resignation, nor was he being investigated for corruption.

Wali also heads the Journalists Syndicate. He won the position in October 2011 elections with the support of the Muslim Brotherhood, although he denies affiliation with the Brotherhood or any other Islamic movement.

Wali is also under fire for defying a syndicate directive not to attend the Constituent Assembly vote on the constitution draft. The syndicate had decided to withdraw Wali, its representative, to protest Islamist domination of the assembly. Wali is facing internal investigation within the syndicate for attending the vote.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Lawsuits against referendum referred to state commissioners

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December 25th, 2012

The State Council’s Administrative Court on Tuesday referred lawsuits against the constitutional referendum to the state commissioners, a judicial advisory body, for their legal opinion.

Mohamed Abul Enein, Muslim Brotherhood and Freedom and Justice Party lawyer, requested time to read and respond to the lawsuits.

The constitution was drafted by an Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly and was approved, according to initial results, after huge support from Islamist forces.

In his lawsuit, lawyer Khaled Ali said the president did not publish the draft constitution in the Official Gazette, nor did he attach it to the polling formats.

Lawyers Ehab Atef and Alaa Eddin Saeed said holding the referendum over two days violated the March 2011 Constitutional Declaration and Law No. 46 of 2011 on exercising political rights, which stipulates that the referendum should be held in one round with results announced three days later.

Earlier Tuesday, the court began reviewing over 50 lawsuits from across the country challenging the legitimacy of the vote, which ended on Saturday.



Plaintiffs are demanding that the announcement of the final results, scheduled for Tuesday night, be postponed. They claim that voting was marred by several violations, including inadequate judicial supervision because of many judged boycotting the poll. Petitioners said this resulted in several polling stations being merged, causing overcrowding that prevented thousands of voters from casting their ballots.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Ahmadinejad hails approval of Egyptian constitution

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December 25th, 2012

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has congratulated his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Morsy for the “success” of the referendum on the country’s new constitution.

The poll, which ended on Saturday, indicated an estimated approval of 64 percent for the charter, which was drafted by an Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly. Official results are expected to be announced later on Tuesday.

The Iranian Arabic-language channel Al-Alam quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a phone call with Morsy that his country will spare no efforts in supporting the Egyptian nation. Morsy, in turn, said both states can make progress with joint efforts.

On Sunday, Iran’s foreign ministry also welcomed the passage of the constitution. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran considers the constitution a crucial step toward democracy in Egypt, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

Tehran has expressed a desire to exchange ambassadors with Egypt since the election of President Mohamed Morsy, but this has not yet occurred.

Edited translation from DPA

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‘Yes’ vote on constitution achieved by rigging, says opposition

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December 23rd, 2012

The opposition National Salvation Front blamed the apparent approval of the draft constitution on “rigging, violations and shortcomings in organization.”

Official results of the referendum are expected to be released on Monday, with early results indicating that the constitution was approved by 64 percent of voters, with only 32 percent of eligible voters participating in the poll.

The front, composed of several liberal parties, was formed in November to counter Islamist movements which had come to dominate the government and the Constituent Assembly. The NSF includes a number of liberal and secular leaders, including former presidential hopefuls Hamdeen Sabbahi and Amr Moussa, and reformer Mohamed ElBaradei.

The opposition group had urged citizens to vote against the constitution draft in the two-day referendum, held on 15 and 22 December.

During the first day of voting on 15 December, the NSF alleged that violations and fraud were taking place. 


In a statement on Sunday, the group listed inadequate judicial supervision, delays in opening polling stations, polling stations closing before their schedule times, and workers in stations advising voters to cast a “yes” ballot among the violations that have been submitted to the Public Prosecution and High Judicial Elections Commission for investigation.

The NSF added that the Egyptian people did not respond to a misleading campaign implying that the referendum was a vote for or against Islamic Sharia, and stressed that it would continue to work for the interests and rights of Egyptians.
 

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National Salvation Front rejects invite to debate on constitution

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December 20th, 2012

The National Salvation Front turned down an invitation for a debate between five members of the front and five members of the Constituent Assembly.

The invitation was issued by Mohamed al-Beltagy, Constituent Assembly spokesperson and secretary of the Freedom and Justice Party.

Amr Moussa, a member of the front, said that he did not think a debate was needed, but rather an acknowledgement that there is no national consensus on the draft constitution. He wondered why the assembly was calling for a debate now, after the first round of voting in the constitutional referendum has already taken place, and shortly before the second round is scheduled to begin on Saturday.

The National Salvation Front is a group of opposition political parties and civil forces that reject the draft constitution and demand a new Constituent Assembly that is not controlled by Islamist parties.

Preliminary results after the first phase of the referendum indicate that 57 percent of voters have approved the draft, while 43 percent voted against it.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Presidential spokesperson: National dialogue on election law after referendum

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December 19th, 2012

The fourth session of the national dialogue called for by President Mohamed Morsy with political forces, legal experts and public figures, on Wednesday discussed the future course of the dialogue after the referendum on the new draft constitution, be it approved or rejected, presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali said.

Ali wrote on Facebook that if the draft constitution is approved, the attendees agreed to discuss the parliamentary elections law and other articles of the draft for which amendments have been proposed, in order to present them to the next Parliament.

In case the draft is rejected, Ali said, they would discuss a law on a new Constituent Assembly to draw up another constitution.

They also agreed to send their proposals to the National Dialogue Committee on 25 December for it to consider over two days, Ali added.

The state-run MENA news agency said the attendees agreed on a document including all disputed articles of the constitution for the coming Parliament to consider.

After the referendum, the presidency would immediately invite the political forces that did not participate in the national dialogue to attend the fifth round so as to widen the circle of discussion, MENA said.

The opposition has rejected the draft constitution and says that participants in the national dialogue are supporters of the ruling party.

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Opposition member: Assembly’s invitation for talks ‘too late’

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December 19th, 2012

An opposition coalition member dismissed Wednesday an invitation from the Constituent Assembly to opposition leaders for a meeting on the controversial draft constitution as "too late."

The assembly's mandate expired when it finished drafting the constitution and it does not have the authority to invite National Salvation Front members for talks, said Ahmed Hassan al-Borai, vice president of the Constitution Party and secretary of the front.

The assembly on Tuesday invited leading opposition figures Mohamed ElBaradei, Hamdeen Sabbahi, Al-Sayed al-Badawy and Amr Moussa to voice their opinions on the draft during an open assembly session on Friday afternoon. But the belated invitation comes as half of the country has already voted on the document in a popular referendum, the second half of which is scheduled for Saturday.

Borai questioned, in statements to state news agency MENA, why the assembly was fostering dialogue after the referendum has already begun, even though it was long aware of opposition objections to the draft.

He also said that the National Salvation Front had asked President Mohamed Morsy to postpone the referendum two weeks, and added that the front now wants the constitution scrapped altogether. Asked why the front did not draft its own constitution as an alternative, Borai said that the coalition had chosen not do so to preserve the unity of Egyptians.

Borai, who is a former minister of manpower, said that the front set as conditions for dialogue the postponement of the referendum and the withdrawal of the president's November decree granting himself expanded powers. Any additional steps taken to undermine the judiciary or immunize the president's decisions from review would further complicate the situation, he said.

"We really hope the president will reconsider the situation and bring the people together," MENA quoted Borai as saying.

Asked about reports that the Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau had issued a call for dialogue with different political powers, Borai said the front has not received any such request and that a proper invitation should not be extended on television.

Edited translation from MENA

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