Ali Awad, legal and constitutional adviser to the president, said there is no tendency within the presidency to hold presidential elections ahead of the parliamentary polls or to conduct both polls simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Khairy Taha, vice president of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) and a member of the 10-member committee that amended the 2012 constitution, said calls for holding presidential elections before the parliamentary ones violate the constitutional declaration which determined the order of events in a roadmap. He added, however, that the 50-member constitution committee has the right to make changes by incorporating an article concerning this issue in the constitution which would be permanent once the constitution is approved in a popular referendum.
In statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Taha added that having an elected vice president would mean that the 50-member committee is creating a presidential system while the draft amendments are based on the adoption of a hybrid presidential-parliamentary system, with greater reliance on the parliamentary form of government.
Taha also said the draft constitution has nothing to do with the suspended 2012 constitution and added that the draft has a completely different philosophy.
Taha said that members of the 10-member committee are finding difficulty in following up with the specific committees set up by the 50-member committee because they hold their sessions at the same time.
Meanwhile, Mohamed al-Shennawy, vice president of the SCC and also a member of the 10-member committee, said he does not want to influence the decisions of the 50-member committee and that all options are open if they agree on something.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
