The Egyptian presidency received on Wednesday draft constitutional amendments from the judicial committee, which spent one month revising articles from the suspended 2012 constitution, according to a presidency statement.
A decree on 8 July by interim president Adly Mansour ordered that a 10-member judicial committee be formed to propose amendments to the suspended 2012 constitution within thirty days from the date of its formation.
The presidents constitutional counsellor, Ali Awad, said on Tuesday in a televised phone call on Al Hayat that 3 controversial amendments related to Sharia principles, as well as the Shura council, would be categorised as ”recommendations , not amendments” and would be subject to review through a 50-member committee .
Although the draft amendments have not yet been made public, the April 6th movement released a statement expressing its disapproval of an reported amendment that “bars the removal of the president through mass protest regardless of the number of protestors”.
The movement called the supposed amendment ”comical” while expressing that the regime would be “duplicating the brotherhood” warning that their “rule will fall” if the amendment is approved.
The Egyptian Coalition for Children’s Rights released a statement on Wednesday stressing the importance of maternal protection, as well as reforming the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, creating a national council for children’s rights. The coalition also called for the constitution to include articles which address the issues of criminal prosecution of female circumcision.
According to the presidential decree, draft articles would then be reviewed by a 50 member constitutional commission, and a full draft constitution would then be voted on via referendum within 4 months.
The presidency said it had received nominations for the 50 members of the commission, including “different political factions and trade unions, intellectuals, workers, farmers, unions and public figures.”
