Egypt’s President is no longer a chief of state’s police

Mohamed Morsy, Egyptian President

Egypt’s Constituent Assembly, tasked with the drafting of Egypt’s new Constitution, decided to cancel the article 184 of the previous 1971 Constitution, which stated that the President is a chief of the police forces. Constituent Assembly’s members Nour Eddin Ali and Salah Abdel Maqsoud announced about this decision on Wednesday, 5 September.

The Assembly’s members explained the changes made in the draft of Egypt’s new Constitution regarding the police issues. According to the aforementioned Article 184 of Egypt’s 1971 Constitution Egyptian police is a civil body headed by the country’s president. The duty of police is to serve citizens and guarantee them security, to ensure order and morality, which is regulated by law.

The wording of the new article in the future Constitution’s draft is changed. According to the new Constitution Egypt’s police is a civil body loyal to the country’s Constitution and the law and its duty is to ensure order and security for the citizens, to protect their freedoms, rights and dignity and to maintain public order and public morality. The president will not head police forces according to the new Constitution.

In addition to that the new Constitution will declare that the city, district and village heads will be not appointed, as it was before, but elected. Their election will be conducted with the oversight of the judicial authorities.