[AWR Cairo 16 December] This newsletter contains reflections regarding the referendum concerning the draft of the proposed new Egyptian constitution written by Nagia Abdelmogney Said. Below, you can find the statement on the role of armed forces in protecting the referendum. 

Reflections Regarding the Referendum Concerning the Draft of the Proposed New Egyptian Constitution

Photo by Sander van Hoorn. Voters waiting in line, Nasr City 

Written by Nagia Abdelmogney Said.

Introduction by Cornelis Hulsman. 

Cornelis Hulsman: Arab-West Report much appreciates the reflections of Dr. Nagia Abdelmogney Said, vice president of the Egyptian Moral Rearmament Association. AWR had several meetings in the past days with representatives of the Freedom and Justice Party, el-Nour Party, Wafd Party, Free Egyptians and Destour Party as well as representatives of the Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Catholic Churches. Research intern Diana Serodio will work this out in reports for AWR but this will take time since we agreed to give the various spokespeople a chance to look at our draft report in order to make sure that we have represented their views well. The various interviews show deep divisions and complications. These deep divisions have resulted in street clashes and the killings of adherents of different parties which has only deepened the divisions. Egypt needs to find a way out of the current dilemma it is in and this is only possible through dialogue.

CAWU board members Cherif Esmat Abdel Meguid spoke in the board meeting of December 13 about inflammatory media. It is not just biased reporting anymore but inflammatory reporting with parties mostly hearing about the views of the other through such media. That is disastrous. We need to advocate that parties meet, exchange views outside media reporting.

The Moral Rearmament Association is doing an excellent job in working towards mutual understanding and for this reason I am very pleased to present you here with the letter of Dr. Nagia Abdelmogney Said:

Dear friends and fellow patriots,

A few hours are left for the referendum to be conducted in Egypt. Egyptians will either say no or yes to the draft of the new constitution. Opinions are divided. Some members of the opposition are claiming that the proposed draft is a product of a biased or a non-balanced Assembly that has been dominated by Islamists or that is a product of the Moslem Brotherhood. Others believe that there is much good in the draft except for a few clauses that need to be revised, clarified or changed while some are worried about the implications of some clauses. Some are calling for boycotting the referendum. Supporters of the draft say it is the best product and that it fulfills the aspirations of the Egyptian people. What should we decide ??

First, allow me to remind ourselves that the work of the Assembly responsible for drafting the new Egyptian Constitution continued for almost six months . Members of the Assembly were varied and represented different trends in the Egyptian society, including liberal intellectuals, the Azhar and Egyptian Christian Churches. Islamists of different inclinations were present.

According to Counselor Hussam Alghueriany, members of the Assembly made, when they started work on June 10, an agreement that whatever was agreed upon would be included in the draft of the constitution and whatever was not agreed upon would be postponed or deleted . Extended discussions took place, distinguished personalities were invited to give their opinion ,e.g.  Dr. Ahmed Zuwail (Nobel Prize winner) and Dr. Magdi Yacoub (famous Coptic cardiac surgeon), as well as public hearings and meetings in the community at large. Amendments were made in different clauses of the draft in order to accommodate different opinions and build consensus.

Our understanding is that members of the Constitutional Assembly, representing different trends, have signed approving what they have agreed upon. This included Christian and Muslim representatives. Suddenly, we heard of withdrawals from the Constitutional Assembly. The Supreme Constitutional Court was scheduled to meet on the 2nd of December and rumors were spread that they would rule to dissolve the Constitutional Assembly as well as the Shura council and bring us back to square one. It seems that as a precautionary measure, President Mursi issued his decree in order to give immunity to the Constitutional Assembly and Shura council and extending the time limit of the Assembly with another two months allowing for further discussions and agreement regarding debatable clauses in the draft. He made his decree immune to court rulings which aggravated many and sounded as a challenge to the judiciary sector. At the same time, the Grand Imam of the Azhar, Dr. Ahmed El-Tayib, had called for meetings with those members who had withdrawn from the Assemblyto return and finalize the mission they started.

Unexpectedly, remaining members of the Constitutional Assembly concluded their mission and decided to hold an extended public and televised meeting to add the standby members and review the final draft clause following clause and vote for approval on the 29th of November). The meeting continued for almost eighteen hours, minor amendments were made and the draft was approved by the majority of the members, signed and presented to President Mursi in a ceremony held on December 1 in the Cairo International Conference Center. During the review and voting session Counselor Edward Ghalib (a Christian member of the Assembly) was publicly thanked and praised for his contributions in drafting certain clauses. Also during the latter ceremony all those who contributed to the draft were thanked and acknowledged including those who had withdrawn at the last moment.

According to the constitutional amendments agreed upon by public referendum on the 19th of March 2011, President Mursi presented the final draft of the new constitution for a public referendum to be held on the 15th of December. President Mursi later called for a meeting with all national leaders including opposition leaders to ease the tense atmosphere and find a way out to a deadlock situation. Some agreed to attend, others refused or did not show up. The lengthy meeting ended up with President Mursi withdrawing his controversial decree of November 22 but maintained its effects. Most of the opposition had demanded the postponement of the referendum to allow more time for consensus over the draft of the constitution before the referendum.

Constitutional scholars who were consulted during the meeting said that it was unconstitutional to postpone the referendum. The compromise announced was that the referendum would be held as scheduled but that all the objections to the draft or suggestions would be submitted, documented presented to the President and signed by him to present it in turn to the new parliament, when elected. In other words the door would still be open for thorough discussions and amendments of the constitution, if agreed upon. Of course this is provided the constitution is approved by the public via the referendum. If it is not approved, a new constitutional assembly will be formed via direct elections to present another draft to the public.

Secondly, I would urge each and every one of us to objectively and accurately review the current proposed draft of the new constitution, with an open heart and an open mind, reflect upon it and decide on his or her own whether it is satisfactory or not. If not, to note down his or her doubts, objections or suggestions and present it for further consideration to the concerned bodies. Let us remember that "It does not matter who is right but what is right." This is ancient Moral Rearmament wisdom. May God bless our beloved country Egypt and help us all to contribute to its stability, prosperity and progress through a truly democratic transformation. At this decisive moment, Egypt needs all our prayers, Amen.

Procedure for the Constitutional Referendum of December 15 and 22

Cornelis Hulsman: Through the Cairo Foreign Press Association we received today the following message dated December 9, 2012:

The Egyptian Presidency

Office of the President's Assistant on Foreign Relations & International Cooperation

Statement on Role of the Armed Forces in Protecting the Referendum.

Following a request from the High Elections Commission, and after consulting with his legal advisor, President Morsi issued Law No. 107/2012. Highlights of the legislation include:

·   The role granted to the Armed Forces is a supportive role for the Police Services and in Coordination with them (Article 1).

·   The legislation is effective Monday December 10 and expires with the announcement of the results of the referendum (Article 3).

·   The powers granted to members of the Armed Forces are governed by the conditions and safeguards outlined in the Law governing the Police Services officers (Article 2).

·   The legislation specifically ensures that civilians arrested in this manner are protected by the civilian Criminal Code. Individuals arrested under these powers must be remanded to the office of the Prosecutor and are tried before Civilian courts, if the Prosecutor recommends trial.

Rumors have circulated that the law allows for civilians to be referred to military courts and this law does not, in any way, allow for civilians to be tried before military courts.

Other rumors spoke about an indefinite nature for this law, whereas this law is strictly limited to a few days until the announcement of the results of the referendum.

The President took this decision with a view to ensuring the safety of all citizens during the upcoming Referendum on the Constitutional Draft.

Prior to this the following developments took place:

December 1 - President Muhammad Mursi issued executive order no. 397/2012  calling for a referendum on the new constitution’s final draft, which had been passed by the Constituent Assembly on November 30. The referendum—a simple “yes” or “no” vote on all 236 articles of the final draft constitution—is to be held on two stages on December 15 and December 22, though Egyptians living abroad were able to start voting as early as December 12.

December 12 - in response to a shortage in judges to supervise the polls, President Mursi issued executive order no.416/2012 stipulating that the referendum will be held in two stages.  The first stage is on December 15, including Cairo, Alexandria, Daqahliya, Gharbiya, Sharqiya, Assiut, Sohag, Aswan, North Sinai, and South Sinai. The second stage is on December 22,  including Giza, Qalyubiya, Minufiya, Behayra, Kafr El-Sheikh, Damietta, Ismailiya, Port Said, Suez, Marsa Matrouh,  New Valley, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Minya, Qena, Luxor and the Red Sea.

The independent High Election Commission (HEC), created by Article 39 of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ (SCAF’s) March 30, 2011, Constitutional Declaration, will be responsible for administering the referendum and declaring its results. Unlike the March 19, 2011, referendum held by the then ruling SCAF, no special legislation was issued in advance for the upcoming referendum. Rather, the 1956 law Regulating the Exercise of Political Rights and its Amendments (law no. 73/1956) and all of its addenda—including the SCAF-issued laws no. 46/2011 and no.110/2011—along with the HEC’s internal rules will govern the December 15 referendum process.

In a televised speech on December 6, President Mursi said that, in the event the draft constitution is rejected, a new Constituent Assembly will be formed through either political consensus or direct elections to draft a new constitution. Although the Constituent Assembly has been in session for nearly six months and its mandate was extended for another two months by President Mursi’s November 22 Constitutional Declaration, the voting process within the Constituent Assembly that approved the document has been rushed. It was completed in an extended session that began on November 29 and lasted into the early hours of November 30.

President Mursi’s call for a referendum has been criticized by his political opposition as a rushed attempt to pass the newly drafted constitution authored by an Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly and thus believing to serve the interests of Islamists. They also argued that fifteen days are insufficient for voters to study the new constitution and its 236 articles. The opposition has been deliberating whether to call for a boycott or a no-vote but on December 12 decided to advice to vote no.

On December 9, President Mursi issued law no.107/2012 granting military officers the right to arrest civilians and ensure domestic security until  the results of the referendum are released. On December 10, the presidency approved the HEC request that the armed forces be in charge of securing polling locations along with police forces. On December 13 army vehicles and tanks reappeared in the streets of Cairo.

Website: http://referendum.eg/

Information mostly taken from: http://egyptelections.carnegieendowment.org/2011/04/01/supreme-council-o...