Luxor4u

Disempowering Egyptian citizens

By Khaled Diab

Despite its democratic aspirations, Egypt’s draft constitution excludes millions of Egyptians from enjoying full citizenship.

Monday 29 October 2012

Congratulations to all conservative, middle-aged male Muslims in Egypt. According to the draft constitution, you qualify as the model Egyptian “citizen”, and the state will be there for you all the way to uphold your rights and defend your freedoms.

However, if you happen to be a woman, a Christian, a follower of a non-Abrahamic faith or an atheist, or simply young, then Egypt’s contradictory constitution – which attempts but fails to strike a balance between secular liberal and conservative religious forces – leaves you vulnerable to the whims and wiles of the powers that be.

The document reflects the raging battle for the soul of Egypt between conservative Islamic and liberal revolutionary forces.


Continued here: http://chronikler.com/middle-east/egypt ... stitution/

The constitution drafting isn’t finished, the process to date has been a confusing mess and the international community, including the IMF, investors and aid donors, may have influence on final outcomes. Let’s hope so. Two recent articles on the current stage of drafting and the mess of a process are at:

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/2 ... t-tolerant

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-ea ... tizens-new

Chronickler isn't the most independent voice on this and its pursuit of a full Western liberal democracy is as unlikely as it is optimistic. Worryingly the Copts have been pretty quiet on this. Maybe the new Pope will be more assertive for his 10% of the population. The Cairo liberals are still disorganized so they're not likely to be have much impact so the domestic current voices for a fairer constitution are weak.

At first glance I thought that it said disemboweling Egyptian citizens