The Advisory Council called for a supplement to the Constitutional Declaration that would amend Article 60, which deals with the formation of the Constituent Assembly intended to draft Egypt's first post-Mubarak constitution.
During their meeting with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Monday, the Advisory Council demanded that the amendment stipulate that Parliament would not choose the members of the assembly and that parliamentarians could not sit on the assembly, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said.
According to state-run news service MENA, the council proposed that a new constitutional declaration be issued naming the members of the assembly in order to assure its independence.
“A proposal was submitted to form a Constituent Assembly in a new constitutional declaration, which would be based on the opinion of political and national movements," Sameh Ashour, the head of the Advisory Council, said in a press conference after the meeting.
According to Ashour, the assembly is attempting to resolve the dispute regarding the Constituent Assembly’s formation, especially as the transitional period will soon come to an end, leaving Egypt without a constitution.
When asked about the possibility of Parliament objecting to the proposal submitted by the council, Ashour said, “We have submitted the proposal to the SCAF, who promised to examine it. We have nothing to do with what happens in Parliament. We put forward our proposal because time has been wasted during the current impasse.”
Ashour anticipated that an amendment to Article 60 would be finalized soon, as the SCAF is expected to transfer power to a civilian president on 30 June.
Article 60 of the Constitutional Declaration, issued in March 2011, stipulates that Parliament would elect the Constituent Assembly. The Advisory Council has repeatedly called for the article’s amendment to ensure that the constitution-drafting process is not monopolized by one political group, especially as Parliament is dominated by Islamists.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
