On the ground, however, it is too serious to brush away as just another attention grabbing slogan. It expresses in a nutshell the aspirations of every Egyptian for a new constitution that
On the ground, however, it is too serious to brush away as just another attention grabbing slogan. It expresses in a nutshell the aspirations of every Egyptian for a new constitution that would lay the basis for a fully fledged democracy, and establish the freedoms and rights he or she particularly put so much effort into realising.
What opportunity, however, does the Egyptian man or woman-in-the-street stand to make an input into that vital national expression: the constitution?
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) recently launched a national initiative entitled “Your Constitution, Egyptian” aimed at establishing a community dialogue on the subject of the constitution. Participants in this initiative include the National Youth Council, al-Azhar Dialogue Centre and the General Secretariat for Catholic Schools, as well as NGOs, members of trade unions, civil society organisations and student unions.
From the bottom up
A conference held at the BA was headed by Sameh Fawzy, director of the BA Forum for Dialogue and Political Studies, who explained that the initiative focused on opening real community channels of dialogue among all citizens around the various topics related to the constitution such as rights and freedoms, economic fundamentals, decentralisation and the shape of the ruling system.
This national initiative goes beyond ideological or political rallying and aims to connect with the public and allow, eventually, for their voice to reach the constituent assembly that will ultimately draft Egypt’s new constitution. To achieve this goal, Dr Fawzy said, panel discussions were to be organised in all governorates to gather suggestions and present them to the constituent assembly that would ultimately draft the new constitution.
Numerous cultural, media, religious and civil establishments are taking part in the initiative. Hisham Gaafar, media consultant for the website OnIslam, said it would reestablish the lost concept that politics starts at the bottom rather than at the top. He pointed out that the implementation of the initiative worked on two levels: the first using general sessions to open a dialogue between the people and the establishments whereas the second relied on training the youth about managing dialogue and pooling opinions.
The challenge
Abdel-Fattah Madi, political science professor at Alexandria University, reminded that it was normal for any political change to be followed by a sequence of stages, most important of which is drafting the constitution, agreeing on the form of the regime and establishing institutions. In building a new political system, the goals and priorities of the society must be translated into provisions of the constitution while paying due respect to the culture of society.
“When it comes to democratic systems,” Dr Madi furthermore said, “the military institution must neither participate in drafting the constitution nor interfere in civil life.”
Dr Madi stressed that modern political systems relied on compromise and agreement, and he rejected the concept of allowing a particular political party—even if the majority party—to draft the constitution on its own. If specific groups are allowed to draft the constitution it would result in systems tailored for specific sectors of the community.
“The second article in the current constitution,” Dr Madi reminded, “was a particular challenge owing to the huge controversy it arouses.” This article stipulates Islam as the State religion, Arabic as its language, and Islamic sharia as the main source of legislation. This article, he said, requires wide communal agreement.
No transgression
The lawyer and human rights expert Karim Sarhan said that the 1971 constitution contains wonderful provisions about rights, freedoms, and principles such as justice, equality, freedom of belief, opinion, and private life. Even so, Sarhan said, it failed to protect Egyptians from tyranny. He blamed this on the absence of a law against transgressing the constitution.
The audience exchanged ideas and suggestions on the various constitution-related subjects. These included the need for provisions to protect the rights of minorities; abolish laws that accommodated tyrannical practices; abolish the laws that established the hereditary rule scenario, and adding articles to activate the supervision of power.
The non-centralised initiative is taking place in several Egyptian governorates and focuses on three main activities: technical discussion sessions of constitution-related issues (central hearing sessions), ‘discussion braids’ and online discussion circles.
The “Your Constitution, Egyptian” initiative does not belong to a particular political party or current and is not targeted towards an elite section of the community, since it empowers local citizens and youth networks. It can be considered a social initiative to create true national harmony and fusion.
WATANI International
6 May 2012