The draft of Egypt’s Constitution to be ready late September

Egypt's Constitution

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandeel declared on Saturday that the final draft of Egypt’s new Constitution will be ready at the end of September, reports states-run news agency MENA.

Egypt’s Constituent Assembly, the body tasked with the drafting of Egypt’s new Constitution, will make an official statement soon issuing the date for the completion of the draft.

Egyptian Constitution of 1971 was suspended after ouster of Egypt’s long standing leader Hosni Mubarak. SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) which led the country during the transitional period issued Constitutional Declaration in March 2011 after the nationwide referendum voted for the drafting of the news Constitution.

The first Constituent Assembly was strongly dominated by Islamists forces and consisted from numerous parliamentary members. The representatives of liberal, leftist and revolutionary forces withdrew from the drafting body, and the Assembly was later dissolved.

Hisham Qandeel, Egypt's Prime Minister

The second Constituent Assembly, the current one, was facing the same problems as the first one, but sort of consensus was found. But the Assembly still remains at risk of dissolution, waiting for the court ruling planned for September. The current Constituent Assembly was chosen and appointed by Egyptian Parliament, which lower house was dissolved due to HCC (High Constitutional Court) ruling regarding its unconstitutionality. In case the Constituent Assembly will be recognized unconstitutional and dissolved, Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsy will be entitled to form the new body tasked with the drafting the Constitution, according to the Constitutional Declaration issued recently by Morsy.

Egypt's Constituent Assembly

The current Constituent Assembly faced a lot of challenges while drafting the national charter, but according to the latest reports, almost the whole text of the Constitution is already completed.

Egypt’s Constituent Assembly consists of five committees; each of them is tasked with the drafting of the special chapter of the future Constitution. The chapters of the document are almost completed, there are still some arguable moments regarding the articles remain, such as the question of Sharia law, for example.

The next stage of the Assembly’s work is the meetings of the committees discussing the chapters of the Constitutions and putting them together, drafting the full text of the state’s highest document. Those meetings are expected to be held during the next month, and at the end of September the Constituent Assembly will present the final draft of the future Constitution.

According to the Constitutional Declaration, the draft will be presented for the public referendum at the end of September. After the results of this referendum the new Egypt’s Constitution will be approved.