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The Egyptian Constitution Document .. is it good in its’ present state?
Do you know that the Egyptian constitution is considered the source of all Egyptian laws? All of the people have agreed for it to be reference for all of the authorities actions in Egypt.
The texts of the Egyptian laws must not contradict with the constitution or they will be unconstitutional and must not be implemented.
Did you know that the first constitution in Egypt was issued after the 1919 revolution. Then King Farrouq has issued another constitution in 1930, but under the people’s pressure, King Farrouq was forced to cancel this constitution. Then a new constitution was issued in 1956, then another one was issued in 1958 before the unity between Egypt and Syria in 1964 and then a temporary constitution was issued after the separation. In 1971, a new Egyptian constitution was issued that is implemented till now. More than 35 years have passed since the issuance of this constitution, the international and regional relations have changed, systems have fallen, the concepts of national and local sovereignty have also changed a long with the state’s role, CSOs have demanded the necessity of guaranteeing people’s civil, economic and social rights and reinforcing democracy and freedom in Egypt. It is necessary to form an association of all political and social forces, syndicates, social organizations to ratify a new constitution that guarantee balance, justice, safety, freedom and a decent life for the Egyptian people, as there are some clauses that must be amended in the corrunt constitution, such as:
Clause no. 93 that state “the people’s council is responsible of deciding the verity of the membership of it’s members, and the court of cassation is responsible of investigating the verity of the presented challenges to the council, the challenges must be transferred back to the court of cassation in 15 days from the date of presentation, the investigation must end in 90 days from the date transferal to the court of cassation”.
This clause must be amended so that the supreme constitutional court be responsible of deciding the verity of the membership of it’s members of the people’s council, and its’ decisions must be final and obligating.
The text contains a breach of the principle of the authorities independence, as it makes the council both the judge and the prosecutor at the same time, but the challenge must be before the judicial authority as the specialized authority according to the constitution to decide in disputes, judges have the right to decide the verity of the elections of the people’s council.
Clause no. 106 the second part that states “the people’s council is allowed to hold a secret session base on the demand of the president, the chairman of the people’s council or at least 20 of its’ members”
This text must be amended or canceled, as all sessions of the people’s council must be open and public, and must not be held secret without the agreement of at least two thirds of its’ members, because like that it is wasting the principle of public and foundational supervision on the activities of the legislative authority.
Clause no. 189 that states “the president and the people’s council have the right to request the amendment of a clause or more of the constitution on the condition of mentioning the reasons for this request”
If the request was presented by the people’s council, it must be signed by at least one third of its’ members, if the request was denied, it must not be presented again before one years has passed on this denial. If the council agreed on the principle of amendment, it must be discussed after 2 months from the date of agreeing. If the amendment was approved by one third of the council, it must be presented for public referendum (plebiscite). If the amendment was approved, then it is considered as valid from the date of announcing the results of the referendum.
Political parties and the consultative council must also have the right to request the amendment of one clause or more of the constitution.
Many clauses must be added to the constitution to guarantee citizens a safe and decent life, like:
Adding a new clause to the constitution that states :any citizen has the right to file a criminal or civil lawsuit against the president, and he must be summoned before the supreme constitutional court or a special court assembled for this matter, no one must have immunity from trial or prosecution whatever position he might have.
This is considered democracy, as the president is an individual like any other individuals in the soviety and the people gave him this authority.
Many other clauses need amendment or cancellation to guarantee a fair and balanced constitution for all of the social forces that distributes wealth and authority among the people and support democracy and human rights in the Egyptian society.
All CSOs must demand the establishment of a public association chosen by all of the political and social forces, parties and syndicates to ratify a new constitution for the country that guarantee citizens freedom and a decent life.
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