Archive for Constitutional Declaration

Constitutional Court to hold general assembly within few days

by admin
December 29th, 2012

Supreme Constitutional Court will hold an urgent general assembly within the coming few days, sources close to the court said.

On the table for discussion will be the assembly' s decision to suspend work in protest against President Mohamed Morsy's November constitutional declaration, which they saw as an attack on the judiciary, and in response to supporters of Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood surrounding the court and preventing judges access.

The sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the position of the court in the current situation will be discussed, including whether to rehold court sessions. Several questions will be addressed, particularly in light of the new Constitution.

Deputy President Saeed Mar’ie said that no date has as yet been set, and that they are waiting for a decision from court President Maher al-Beheiry.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Traffic back to normal in Tahrir

by admin
December 25th, 2012

Traffic moved normally in Tahrir Square Tuesday for the first time since President Mohamed Morsy issued his 22 November constitutional declaration, which granted him wide-ranging powers and ignited protests nationwide.



Calm currently prevails among protesters and street vendors, as the number taking part in sit-ins decreased.



Traffic is flowing smoothly due to the removal of sand and barbed wire barriers at the entrances of Talaat Harb, Qasr al-Nil and the Egyptian Museum streets.

Meanwhile, dozens of demonstrators have entered the 35th day of their sit-in against the constitution draft, which preliminary results indicate was approved by 64 percent of voters.

Some protesters rejected the 90 figures Morsy recently appointed to the Shura Council, Egypt’s upper house of Parliament, which has legislative authority until a new lower house is elected. 



Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Cancellation of constitution top priority, ElBaradei says

by admin
December 24th, 2012

Constitution Party head Mohamed ElBaradei said that if his party is successful in the coming parliamentary elections, the top priority would be the cancellation of the new constitution.

ElBaradei told BBC on Monday that he believes the new constitution constrains basic values such as freedom of belief and expression and independence of the judiciary.

The Constitution Party is a member of the National Salvation Front along with the Wafd, Conference, Egyptian Social Democratic and Popular Current parties, and the National Association for Change.

In a press conference on Sunday, the front said it would run for parliamentary elections on one list.

Earlier on Monday, Hamdeen Sabbahi, founder of the Popular Current, expected the front to secure a majority in the elections.

In an interview with the Turkish Anadolu news agency, Sabbahi rejected the new constitution, saying, “The referendum was manipulated. However, we’ll deal with it as a fact. We’ll struggle to cancel it.”

He added that comparing the results of the March 2011 referendum with the recent on indicates a decrease in Islamist popularity, specifically that of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In March 2011, the Constitutional Declaration was passed with a 78 percent vote after Islamist campaigns in support of the document. Preliminary results indicate that the draft constitution was approved by 64 percent. Sabbahi anticipated that this shift would help the NSF secure a majority in Parliament.

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Morsy may draw Shura Council nominees from non-Islamist groups

by admin
December 19th, 2012

President Mohamed Morsy is set to appoint non-Islamist members to the Shura Council, which will begin legislating if the new constitution is approved.

According to the Constitutional Declaration of 2011, the upper house of Parliament is to be composed of two-thirds elected members and one-third presidential appointees.

Under the original declaration, the then-ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was supposed to make the appointments using its temporary executive authority, but never did so.

The Turkish Anadolu news agency, citing sources close to the president’s office, reported Wednesday that Morsy has formed a committee, headed by Justice Minter Ahmed Mekky, to suggest appointees. Mekky's committee is insisting that appointed members be public figures, affiliated with new parties that are not already represented in the Shura Council, according to the news agency.

Last week, some attendees of Morsy’s “national dialogue” agreed not to nominate members of parties currently represented on the council, namely Islamist groups that have high representation such as the Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi Nour Party.

The Freedom and Justice Party holds 45 percent of the elected council seats, while a Nour Party-led Salafi coalition holds 28.6 percent of the seats.

According to recommendations proposed by Mekky's committee, 10 seats will be reserved for legal experts and constitutional professors, as the body will have legislative authority after a new constitution comes into force until a new lower house is elected.

Parties that held more than 10 seats in the dissolved People’s Assembly, including the Free Egyptians and the Egyptian Socialist Democratic parties, will receive 12 seats on the council. Parties that held five to 10 seats such as the Wasat Party will receive seven seats, while parties that had less than five seats in the lower house, including Strong Egypt, the Popular Current and the Constitution Party, will be represented by two or three seats.

 

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Back to the barracks, army awaits referendum’s second round

by admin
December 16th, 2012

Army troops securing the constitutional referendum vote returned to the barracks on Sunday, set to return to polling stations for the second round of voting next Saturday.

The Armed Forces had assigned 120,000 officers and soldiers with 6,000 armored vehicles to secure polling stations Saturday, in coordination with the Interior Ministry and the High Judicial Elections Commission, which is overseeing the vote.

The army’s deployment came after President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration last week, which gave the military the authority to arrest civilians until the referendum result is declared.

Under Morsy’s order, the military would support and cooperate with police to protect “vital institutions” and “secure polling stations.” The move was criticized by rights groups, who worried it would open the door to more civilians being tried before military courts.

But a presidential statement on Tuesday said any citizens arrested by the army during the referendum voting period would be tried before a civilian court.

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Badie: Vote yes for ‘the greatest constitution Egypt ever knew’

by admin
December 14th, 2012

Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie took to Facebook on Friday to spur the nation to vote "yes" for what he calls "the greatest draft constitution Egypt has ever known" in tomorrow's constitutional referendum.

"To the great Egyptian people, we have always known you to be positive during the revolution, during the 2011 constitutional declaration referendum and the parliamentary election in 2011. You were also positive in the presidential election. We expect your participation in this referendum to be even greater, because this referendum will create the path for us, our sons and grandchildren," Badie wrote on his Facebook page.

"The chance has come for you to grant yourself a constitution that organizes your life, proves your sovereignty and  raises your dignity high above. This constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly that you elected indirectly. It exerted huge efforts to draft it. It offered it up to social dialogue six times over almost six months, so it would near perfection, even though humans cannot achieve that. Thanks to God, we have the greatest constitution Egypt had ever known,” he continued.



The first round of the constitutional referendum is set to take place on 15 December in 10 governorates, including Cairo. The second round is scheduled for 22 December for the rest of the nation.



The draft constitution has proven divisive, and has been highly criticized by secularist opposition forces for not being representative of the country as a whole. 



Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Another prosecution body boycotts constitutional referendum

by admin
December 12th, 2012

The Administrative Prosecution Club announced that its counselors would only supervise the referendum on the draft constitution scheduled for 15 and 22 December if the most recent constitutional declaration and all its results are cancelled.

The head of the club, Abdallah Qandil, said in a statement that the club asked all prosecutions nationwide to provide the names of judges interested in supervising the referendum, and that a large majority refused to participate.

There are 3,847 Administrative Prosecution Club members, according to available data in the club, and only 836 have expressed the desire to supervise the referendum, while 3,011 have rejected it, Qandil said.

Qandil expressed the Administrative Prosecution counselors’ support of the judicial system in Egypt and the need to preserve its independence and immunity, as well as their support for every Egyptian who revolts against injustice.

He noted that the two constitutional declarations issued by the president have put the judiciary in an unprecedented confrontation with the presidential office.

The two declarations also showed signs of civil strife between different people in society, he said.

The club’s announcement comes one day after the Judges Club said that 90 percent of judges are boycotting the referendum. Meanwhile, the State Lawsuits Authority announced that it is willing to supervise the poll.

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Referendum vote to be split over two days

by admin
December 12th, 2012

Egypt's electoral commission has decided to organize the referendum on the draft constitution in two stages, state TV said early Wednesday.

The vote initially set for 15 December, will now take place both on Saturday and a week later on December 22, with half of the governorates voting each day.

The move comes as most judges have refused to supervise the vote in protest over the president's recent constitutional declaration increasing his own powers and undermining the judiciary.

Judges Club head Ahmed al-Zend said in a press conference Tuesday that 90 percent of judges and prosecutors across the country would not participate in the upcoming constitutional referendum based on a survey conducted by the club.

The prosecutor general issued a memorandum on Tuesday appealing to prosecutors nationwide to supervise the referendum.

Talaat Abdallah, who was put in place by the president's decree, wrote that he understands prosecutors suspended their work because of the first constitutional declaration which they felt compromised the independence of the judiciary, but pointed out that the president replaced the declaration with a weaker one after meeting with various political forces.

Egyptian expatriates began voting abroad on Wednesday on the controversial constitution. The 586,000 voters eligible to cast ballots abroad have four days to do so at designated embassies and consulates.

The counting process for those ballots will begin immediately after voting ends Saturday evening, the elections officials said in a statement Tuesday. The results will be submitted to the general elections committee and then to the High Judicial Elections Commission.

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Judges Club in Beheira and Port Said vote against supervising referendum

by admin
December 11th, 2012

The general assembly at the Damanhour first instance court in Beheira has recommended that judges boycott supervision of the constitutional referendum, slated for 15 December.

Court president Hassan Basyouni told Aswat Masriya website that the general assembly had decided to halt the court's activities until it reconvenes on 25 December.

He said the court also decided not to recognize Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah as prosecutor general. President Mohamed Morsy appointed Abdallah last month to replace Abdel Meguid Mahmoud.

Several judges unions nationwide have declared they will not manage the referendum, citing their objection to the 22 November constitutional declaration. They say the declaration represented an encroachment on judicial authority by making presidential decrees immune from challenge or oversight.

The Port Said judges club also adopted a similar stance, state-run news agency MENA reported on Tuesday. The agency quoted the club's chairman as saying that the amendments made by Morsy on Saturday to the controversial declaration have failed to annul its effects and "again circumvented judges' and citizen's demands."

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Stock market falls again after constitutional referendum rejection

by admin
December 10th, 2012

The Egyptian stock exchange dropped Monday after gaining Sunday, as a main opposition coalition rejected President Mohamed Morsy’s plan to put the draft constitution up for a referendum Saturday.

The main stock exchange index went down 1.7 percent to 4,968 points, declining for the third time within six sessions.

The market has oscillated between 5,100 and 4,700 points since Morsy issued his initial constitutional declaration 22 November, giving himself sweeping powers.

Morsy canceled that decree Saturday, which led to a wave of rises in stock prices, led by foreign investors. Egyptian investors, however, are still uncertain about the political and economic future of the country.

All stocks on the main index except for five fell, including Palm Hills, which went down 1.5 percent, and Orascom Telecom, which declined by 0.8 percent.

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