Political and revolutionary forces have described the draft constitution issued by the Constituent Assembly as “deformed and incoherent.” They demanded, in a statement issued Thursday, that an interim constitutional declaration be issued and a new assembly be elected by the people.
The constitution's authors issued a first draft early this month and are revising it and taking public opinion before issuing a final draft that is slated for public referendum. If they do not issue a final draft in December within six months after the assembly's formation, President Mohamed Morsy is allowed to dissolve the body and form a new one.
Revolutionary Youth Union member Omar al-Hadary told state-run news agency MENA that disagreements surrounding the drafting process and the charter itself have been caused by what he called the rivalry between political forces who do not heed the people.
Hadary said that each political faction seeks to develop a constitution according to its own ideology.
The political forces that signed the statement include the Revolutionary Youth Union, the Front Supporting the Arab Revolutions, the Front of Media Revolutionaries, Al-Hayat Assembly and the Coalition for Egypt, an umbrella assembly for revolutionary youth groups founded last year. A number of independent public figures also signed the statement.
Hadary said that the draft neglected farmers, laborers, children, people with special needs, fishermen, and many other groups. He suggested that the people should directly elect a new Constituent Assembly, rather than having one appointed by Parliament. This would involve issuing a new constitutional declaration to dissolve the current assembly and cancel the draft constitution.
The elected Constituent Assembly members should be prevented from running in elections for four years, Hadary said.
Based on the groups' plan, the elected assembly would issue an interim constitution in three months, according to which a parliament would be elected. In this proposal, the new constitution would take three years to develop. During this period assembly members would listen to the opinions of people in different governorates and villages, Hadary suggested.
A parliament would be elected after the interim constitution is issued and dissolved after the new constitution is approved so as to elect a new one according to the constitution, Hadary added.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
