Thursday, March 31, 2011

CAIRO: Egypt will elect a new president by the end of the year, the ruling military council said Wednesday, unveiling a “constitutional declaration” – a set of principles that will guide the nation through a transitional period until a new constitution is drafted and approved.

The military also announced a new 62-article interim constitution to replace the one suspended after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11 in a popular uprising that rocked the region.
The new head of state would be elected a month or two after parliamentary elections scheduled for September, said Mamdouh Shaheen, a member of the military council.

“The military council will give up legislative powers to the new parliament once it is formed and will give up the remaining presidential powers to the president once a new president takes office,” Shaheen said during a news conference.

Candidates for the position held by Mubarak for three decades include Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, both civilians seeking a job held by former military men since the 1950s.

The election will be held according to new rules that open up competition for the position and limit presidents to two, four-year terms. Mubarak was in his fifth, six-year term when he was swept from power by a mass uprising.
Shaheen said Egypt needed a new president for “stability and development.” The turmoil of the last two months has harmed Egypt’s economy, dealing a blow to tourism among other industries. Reflecting uncertainty, the Egyptian pound is at six-year lows against the dollar.

Alia Mamdouh, an economist at CI Capital, said the timetable unveiled by the military this week had eased concerns that the interim period of military rule could drag on. “The sooner things settle down, the better for the economy,” she said.
The military council is seen as eager to relinquish power as soon as possible to a civilian, elected government. It dissolved Parliament and suspended the constitution a day after taking power from Mubarak.

Governing by decree, the military issued a temporary constitution Wednesday that will serve as the legal basis for government until a new one is drawn up.

The decree was drawn up in collaboration with legal experts and included amended sections of the old constitution that were approved by a referendum on March 19.

The new document emphasized Egypt’s Islamic identity by stating in Article 2 that the state religion is Islam and the principle of the Islamic Shariah law is the main source of legislation. Article 4, however, bans political parties based on religious grounds.
It declares Egypt a democratic state, says peaceful protests are allowed and guarantees freedom of expression and free press.

The new parliament is set to draft an entirely new constitution – a process that could take a year or more.
Shaheen said a committee comprising up to 200 people including judicial experts would be formed next week to work on a draft constitution to be put to the new constitutional body.
The new parliament will keep a 50 percent quota of seats allocated to “farmers and workers,” a holdover from the country’s socialist past.

Egyptians who took to the streets to topple Mubarak are still pressing demands for deep reform to an autocratic system of government. While Mubarak has been removed from power, reformists are concerned by what they see as the lingering influence of some elements of his administration.

Activists have called for a large rally in Cairo Friday “to protect the revolution.”
“The only concrete accomplishment is that there is no Mubarak and no Gamal,” said George Ishak, a leading figure in the protest movement that mobilized in opposition to Mubarak and any moves for his son, Gamal Mubarak, to inherit power.

In an interview, he urged more aggressive legal measures against Mubarak and figures associated with his administration. He also said remnants of the hated state security agency, officially dissolved this month, must be uprooted. – Agencies