Egypt’s Islamists clash with military over constitution

It looks like the Egyptian revolution is far from over Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood clashed with the country’s army leaders on Thursday, accusing them of trying to “marginalise” parliament over the writing of a new constitution and said it would shun a new council set up by military rulers to help oversee the drafting of a new constitution.
Mohammed El-Baltagui, one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said the movement had pulled out of a contact group with the army leaders who have been in power since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak in February.
“We consider that any attempt to marginalise the parliament or to reduce its prerogatives in favor of any other unelected entity is a move to bypass the will of the people,” he told AFP.
The army is due to unveil the constitution council, which will include politicians, presidential candidates and youth representatives, formally later in the day.
The Brotherhood fears that the new council would seize authority of the new parliament, which the Muslim Brotherhood is currently doing well in the elections for, and become a permanent fixture in Egypt and that if it proves successful its mandate could be extended once the military has handed full power to a civilian president in 2012.
“If this body succeeds to resolve national issues, it could possibly evolve into a national defence committee and stay in force even after a president is elected,” an anonymous source told Reuters news agency, making clear that army figures could join the group later.
It was not clear how such a body would fit beside the new parliament and a senior FJP member, said the group would boycott the council.
“After participating in the initial negotiations ... it became apparent that the advisory group will have a mandate beyond the transitional period headed by the military council,” said the FJP’s Mohamed al-Katatni.
He said this would “detract from the (parliament) and intervene in the formation of the founding assembly to draft the constitution.”
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, chairman of the Supreme Council of The Armed Forces (SCAF), issued a decree on Thursday to form an “Advisory Board”, determining its functions and powers adding that its chairman, deputy, and secretary general would be determined by popular vote, agreeing that board members not exceed 35 members.
The Advisory Board will include all national political organisations, as well as figures representing the revolutionary youth and a number of presidential candidates and party leaders.
The source affirmed that Chairman of the Advisory Board would not be a presidential candidate, adding that the SCAF was keen that the board represent all sections of society, stressing that it would not be a puppet organisation and would invesitgate matters of public interest that the SCAF believed were of concern.
The source also hinted at deliberations of transforming the board into what he called a "National Defence Board", with the inclusion of military figures, through which it can participate in making important decisions, adding that the board will remain even after a president takes charge of Egypt.
Political activist Manal Shorbagy confirmed that the SCAF had met several times with prominent public figures, including Amr Mousa, Mohamed Selim el-Awa, Mohamed Nour Farahat, Ahmed Kamal Abul Magd, Naguib Sawiris, Judge Tahani Gibali, Mamdouh Hamza, Abul Ela Madi, among others.
On Wednesday, in comments to a small group of foreign journalists, a member of the ruling junta said the army would have a final say over those appointed to a 100-member panel tasked with writing a new constitution next year.
“This is the first stage in our democracy,” Major General Mukhtar Al-Mulla was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper. “This is not out of mistrust of the parliament,” he added.
The Brotherhood, which emerged as the biggest winner in the first stage of the just-concluded parliamentary elections, wants the assembly to oversee the constitution writing process.
Analysts had forecast a fierce power struggle between the new civilian political powers that have emerged since the fall of Mubarak and the ruling army generals charged with managing the country’s democratic transition.
Millions of Egyptians flocked to the polls at the start of the first phase of parliamentary elections last week, with the majority opting for Islamist parties.
The more moderate Brotherhood, banned for decades by Mubarak, won 37 percent of votes cast for parties, with the ultra-conservative Islamic fundamentalist party Al-Nur picking up about 25 percent.
The Brotherhood also won the vast majority of votes cast for individual candidates.
The prospect of an Islamist-dominated parliament has raised fears among secular liberals about civil liberties, women’s rights and religious freedom in a country with the Middle East’s largest Christian minority.
They fear that Islamist parties in the new assembly will use their influence to ensure an overtly religious and conservative new constitution.
Mulla justified the army’s oversight of the constitution process because the parliament would not be representative of “all the Egyptian people.”
“What we are seeing is free and fair elections ... but they certainly don’t represent all sectors of society,” The Guardian quoted him as saying.
Under the current timetable, the writing of a new constitution was meant to be undertaken by a 100-member panel named by the upper and lower houses of parliament once they have been elected by March.
In another area with potential for tension, the Muslim Brotherhood has also said it expects to be asked to form a new interim caretaker government if it emerges as the biggest power in parliament.
The head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces swore in a new military-backed cabinet on Wednesday headed by a former prime minister from the Mubarak era, 78-year-old Kamal El-Ganzouri.