Regional News :Egypt’s Verbal War Escalates on Constitution,...

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Egypt’s Verbal War Escalates on Constitution, Presidential Elections

Local Editor

Egypt's parliament has elected an Islamist-dominated panel to draft a new constitution, and liberal activists are scrambling to block the move.

Thirty-nine of the 50 lawmakers chosen for the 100-member constituent assembly are Islamists, according to press reports, while they are also represented among the remaining 50 members drawn from outside parliament.
Egypt's ruling military council lashed out at the powerful Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday, accusing the group of "trying to undermine the government and of questioning the motives of the military rulers."

The sign of mounting tensions between the country's Islamists and often military rulers comes as Egypt prepares for a presidential election to begin in May.
In its statement, the military council expressed its "utmost resentment at slanders by the Brotherhood's political arm against the integrity of the armed forces and their supreme council, attacking the performance and patriotism of the government."

The military council was responding to a statement released by the Brotherhood on Saturday, suggesting that the military rulers "were trying to abort the revolution or to commit fraud in the presidential election."
The verbal war came hours after Egypt's parliament has elected an Islamist-dominated panel to draft a new constitution.

Thirty-nine of the 50 lawmakers chosen for the 100-member constituent assembly are Islamists, according to press reports, while they are also represented among the remaining 50 members drawn from outside parliament.
Liberal lawmakers had walked out on the vote in the joint parliament and senate session on Saturday, accusing the Islamist majority of trying to dominate the crucial panel.

The new constitution will replace the one annulled by the ruling military, which took power after an uprising ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak last year.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the largest in the parliament, has the biggest representation on the panel, followed by al-Nur party.
The 50 people appointed from outside parliament include a member of the ruling military council, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member seen as the group's religious guide, judges, lawyers and an activist who lost both eyes in clashes with police.

The assembly is due to hold its first meeting on Wednesday, as a secular leaning group, the National Association for Change, and others pressed a court to annul the vote that elected the panel.

Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org