Coptic Church criticises make-up of Egypt’s constituent assembly

Ahram Online
29/3/2012

In Thursday statement, Coptic Church blasts methods used to form constitution-drafting body, says constituent assembly fails to represent broad spectrum of Egyptian society.

Egypt’s Coptic Church on Thursday issued a statement criticising the system used to form Egypt’s recently-established constituent assembly, tasked with drafting a new national constitution.

Half the members of the 100-seat assembly were drawn from Egypt’s first post-Mubarak parliament – roughly three quarters of which is controlled by Islamist parties – and half from among non-parliamentarians.

In its statement, the church noted that it had informed Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) about its reservations regarding the assembly.

The church went on to argue that the constituent assembly in its current form did not represent the broad spectrum of Egyptian society, including women and Coptic Christians.

It also pointed out that most members of the assembly were members of either the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party or the Salafist Nour Party. This, the church noted, contravenes the constitutional declaration issued last year by the SCAF, which stated that all segments of Egyptian society should be represented in the constitution-drafting process.

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