Egypt: Approving a flawed constitution

The hastily written constitution all but guarantees that the Muslim Brotherhood will dominate Egypt for decades to come.

“I voted No,” said Dina Wahba in Al Majalla (U.K.). The hastily written constitution that about half of us Egyptians voted on last week—the second stage of the referendum will be held shortly—is unworthy of the revolution that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago. It “fails to guarantee women’s rights, children’s rights, minority rights, or religious, economic, and social rights.” Islamic sharia law is the basis for legislation, and religious freedom is accorded only to Muslims, Christians, and Jews. One article outlaws blasphemy and some forms of “insult”—provisions that give the government the power to muzzle the press. Another calls for the preservation of “the genuine character of the Egyptian family”—code for keeping women at home. Of course, that’s hardly surprising since only four women remained in the nearly 100-member assembly that wrote the document after three other women “walked out in protest.” Such a constitution all but guarantees that the Muslim Brotherhood will dominate Egypt for decades to come.

The content of the constitution is bad enough, but the way it was rammed through is even worse, said The National (United Arab Emirates) in an editorial. The opposition had objected to the constitutional assembly, but before the Supreme Court could rule on its legitimacy, President Mohammed Mursi made an unlawful decree that all his orders were “final and unchallengeable” and that the assembly could not be dissolved. The assembly then rushed through a vote approving the draft, and Mursi set the referendum dates, prompting a massive, bloody protest. “The unilateral action has understandably raised fears of a renewed autocracy.” When, weeks from now, the final results are in, Egypt will “have nothing resembling closure.”

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