Relations between Islamists and secular political forces are at a low point since the latter withdrew their members from the assembly tasked with writing Egypt’s new constitution, calling the forthcoming document’s legitimacy into question.
Although this might be one of the few moments in which secular factions unite on one stance, the Islamist parliamentary majority is unlikely to yield to the pressure, analysts say.
Eighteen secular public figures have balked at participating in the 100-person panel in protest of the vague criteria and opaque process for electing its members, accusing the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and Salafi-oriented Nour Party — which together hold over 50 percent of the Parliament’s seats — of dominating the body and favoring their affiliates.
Five political parties on both the right and left of the political spectrum withdrew their members from the constituent assembly almost immediately. Two days later, the liberal Wafd Party’s executive bureau also recommended withdrawal, likely leaving the Reform and Development Party as the sole representative of non-Islamists.
“It is a difficult and painful decision, but it is impossible for us to accept in this historical moment compromising the future of coming generations or confiscating … their right to choose their political system and identity,” Ahmed Saeed, an MP and president of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, said at a press conference of secular forces held on Tuesday.
“We refused the political bargain because it was made evident to us that the constitution will be drafted solely by Islamist forces, who gave to themselves the right to write the constitution, excluding the remaining components of Egyptian society,” Saeed said, echoing arguments from various secular groups that Islamists have afforded themselves too much representation in the body without being transparent or subject to sufficient oversight.
After the two houses of Parliament agreed that they would elect to the body 50 members from Parliament and 50 from outside, the final composition included 36 MPs from either the FJP or Nour’s parliamentary blocs.
Many from the non-MP half have either Islamist backgrounds or sympathize with the Brotherhood, whether they are experts in law or finance or represent professional syndicates, which are largely dominated by Islamists. All bankers and businessmen included in the assembly are from Islamist backgrounds, and the bankers work in Islamic banking. In total, 56 percent of the constituent assembly is in some way connected to Islamists.
Liberal forces were also unnerved by the lack of representation for important segments of the Egyptian population, as only six Coptic Christians, who make up around 10 percent of the population, and six women are included. Youths were also largely excluded, though more than half of the population is under the age of 35, according to UN statistics.
The non-Islamist groups announced at the conference on Tuesday that they will form a parallel constituent assembly to write a constitution properly representing all the interests of Egyptian society. Saeed announced that the groups have invited Islamists to join them in this alternate body.
Hassan Abu Taleb, an expert at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said the liberal forces’ response was the least that could be done in the face of Islamists’ “arrogance,” as the liberals realized that their meager numbers in the constituent assembly wouldn’t allow their opinions to have much effect on the constitution.
“This is a strong message from the political forces that defend the civil nature of the state, because the way the Islamist forces are managing the process of writing the constitution is an insult to the Egyptian state and an attempt to hegemonize the fate of a whole nation,” Abu Taleb told Egypt Independent.
Abu Taleb said these figures are “icons” who have a good sense of public opinion, and that “their withdrawal would be supported by a wide spectrum of the Egyptian population,” he added.
On the other hand, Mostafa Kamel al-Sayed, a leader of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party who pulled out of the constituent assembly — or as he calls it, “the Muslim Brotherhood assembly” — doubts the withdrawals will pressure the FJP and Nour to change their path.
“They will totally ignore accusations of lack of representation and focus on defending themselves, as they actually elected non-Islamists and they can’t be blamed if these secularists decided to withdraw,” said Sayed, who is also a political science professor at Cairo University.
During the press conference, secular forces were divided over whether or not an intervention from the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to solve the secularist-Islamist impasse might benefit the non-Islamists.
Sameh Ashour, a Nasserist who heads the Lawyers Syndicate and was named to the constituent assembly, called on SCAF to intervene to “protect the nation” and announce a new constitutional declaration changing Article 60 of the current document, which places no stipulations on how Parliament composes the constituent assembly.
Liberal forces have also been harshly critical of the military junta’s rule over the last 13 months. Amr Hamzawy, a liberal independent MP and political scientist, rejected any SCAF interference in the process.
Hamzawy suggested proceeding with the constitution-writing process by first changing the way in which the constituent assembly is elected, and then by regulating the voting process once the panel is formed so that decisions can only be passed with a two-thirds majority.
But these may be liberal pipe dreams, according to Sayed, who says the FJP and Nour will simply replace the vacant seats with the list of 40 elected back-up members, stressing the importance of moving on with writing the constitution as justification. Half of the 40 are from the Parliament, and the other 20 a group comprising a majority of Islamists from outside, meaning that Islamists will replace the secularist drop-outs.
“[The Islamists] will claim that the outcome is what matters and not the process itself. They will promise a social contract that protects personal freedoms as well as keeping Islamic Sharia as the main source of legislation, claiming that the only drastic change will be in the shape of the political system itself,” said Sayed.
“The bet is on the reaction of people in the streets and whether they will back the secularists or not,” Samer Soliman, a political scientist and member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, told Egypt Independent.
Although their parties are part of the campaign against the constituent assembly, both Sayed and Soliman, speaking to Egypt Independent on Sunday, opposed the decision to withdraw at the moment.
“[The secularists] should have waited until it was evident that the constitution won’t protect the civil nature of the state, or that Islamists were attempting to install a religious state, and then they should have quit,” said Sayed.
Sayed fears the possibility that the current SCAF-led government might encumber the constitutional referendum if it doesn’t satisfy the interests of the military junta. He worries the generals may use the current withdrawals as a way to question the constitution’s legitimacy, especially in the wake of the recent feud between SCAF and the Brotherhood.
Meanwhile, Hatem Abdel Azim, an FJP MP, said the withdrawal of few secularists would not threaten the legitimacy the new constitution, confirming Sayed and Soliman’s expectations that Islamists won’t offer concessions.
“The constitution derives its legitimacy from the public referendum,” he told Egypt Independent.
He went on to argue that the appeals already filed by secularists to challenge the makeup of the assembly would go nowhere. “These appeals are unfounded,” he said. “The assembly was formed according to the Constitutional Declaration and bore no legal or constitutional violation.”
Seventeen public figures and constitutional experts have filed a case in the Administrative Court against SCAF head Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, FJP People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny, and Shura Council Speaker Ahmed Fahmy, to halt the decision to form the 50-MP, 50-non-MP constituent assembly, claiming it violates the March 2011 Constitutional Declaration. The first court session is scheduled for Tuesday.
Abu Taleb said Islamists should reconsider their decision on how to compose the assembly and re-elect a new one with 20 members from Parliament and 80 from outside.
“That a single political force controls the process is political absurdity,” Abu Taleb said. “This would mean that they are reproducing the same behavior of [Mubarak’s ruling] National Democratic Party, but with beards this time.”
The first session of the constituent assembly is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
