Seeking a national accord on the country’s new constitution, a number of prominent figures held a preparatory meeting on Sunday at Adl Party headquarters.
Abdel Ghaffar Shokr, senior member at the Popular Socialist Alliance Party, said attendants at the meeting decided to form a panel of seven figures with varying orientations. He said that the panel will be supported by three other committees, with the first drafting proposals for the new constitution's principles, the second communicating with political and popular forces, and the third communicating with media outlets.
The meeting was attended by Moataz Abdel Fattah, a political science professor at Cairo University; MPs Amr al-Shobaky and Mostafa al-Naggar; Hossam Eissa, a constitutional law professor; Abdel Galil Mostafa, chief coordinator at the National Association for Change; Abul Ela Mady, chairman of Wasat Party; and Mohamed al-Qassas, a senior member at the Egyptian Current Party.
Tareq al-Khouly, spokesperson for the April 6 Youth Movement's Democratic Front, said participants on Saturday decided to declare an initiative to build a national consensus around the next constitution.
Khouly also revealed that attendants are proposing a plan for electing a panel to draft the upcoming constitution. A national accord commission will also be established, Khouly said, adding that public figures and political parties of all orientations, including Islamist parties, will be invited to join.
Islamists, who have swept the majority of seats in the parliamentary elections, are also working towards creating a constitutional draft. The Salafi-oriented Nour Party announced in late December that it assigned a legal committee to prepare a draft constitution based on previous constitutions. The party said it's leaning towards a presidential system. The Muslim Brotherhood-led Democratic Alliance has also been working on a preliminary document that would serve as a constitutional draft, one which puts forward a mixed parliamentary-presidential
system.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
