Egypt’s Islamist groups consolidate power

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Egyptian Islamists, who control the recently elected parliament, are on track to consolidate their hold over politics after the selection of a panel that will draft the country’s new constitution.

They will have a large majority on the panel according to a final list published on Sunday, a day after parliament elected its members during a session which witnessed the withdrawal of parliamentarians representing liberal and leftist forces.

The panel was chosen at a meeting of the upper and lower chambers in parliament which is itself dominated by Freedom and Justice, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, and by Nour, an ultraconservative Islamist party.

Last week parliament voted that half the members of the panel should come from within its ranks – a move which was criticised by secular groups who fear that the constitution will reflect Islamist preferences rather than the broad range of opinion in Egyptian society. Six women and six Christians are on the list, but more than two-thirds of the members represent Islamists, according to local media.

The constitution is intended to provide a blueprint for the political order after former President Hosni Mubarak was removed from power by a popular uprising 13 months ago.

It will decide contentious issues such as the relationship between Islam and the state and the role of the army in the post-Mubarak era. The charter will define the powers of the president and parliament and the rights of the Christian minority, which fears a rise in discrimination under Islamist rule.

Freedom and Justice has said it wants to reduce the powers of the president and increase those of parliament, while Nour, made up of ultraconservative Salafis, has made it clear in recent months that it entered politics because it feared the role of religion might be diluted in the constitution. It wants to push for a strict adherence to Islamic law.

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This was a black day in Egypt’s history,” wrote Ziad Bahaa, a member of parliament from the Egyptian Social Democratic Party on his Facebook page. “The composition of the panel . . . was dictated by the FJP and Nour without giving any consideration to [the need for] consensus.”

The Egyptian Social Democratic Party, which was allocated three places on the panel, has decided to turn them down and boycott the constitution-writing process. Other secular groups say they are considering similar moves.

And just as the Muslim Brotherhood does a go-around/intimidation to impose strict Sharia on everyone in Egypt, so, too, Obama has gone around the US (purse strings) Congress to give the Egyptian Islamists $1.5 Billion.
My only question was, did Obama usurp or did Congress abdicate?

@Nan G: The term Social Democrat should be Socialist Democrat- just like the USA. Remember that this Party ruined Europe and is continuing the effect today.

@Nan G:

My only question was, did Obama usurp or did Congress abdicate?

Oh I see you’re finally coming to the party…a bit late mind you.

Yes, congress, the Republicans, abdicated their responsibility.

Interesting. Supposedly the FJP was forming an alliance with the more secular elements to build a ruling coalition in parliament. But based on this, they instead decided to join forces with the more radical Salafists when it came to writing a constitution. Makes it seem like they may actually be more comfortable with their fundamentalist buddies in Nour, and their coalition with the moderates is just a way to placate the West (they still need our aid).

when I hear that it make me think of the agenda RON PAUL would apply
to those if he was given the power,
a radical retreat of money for the radical COUNTRIES,
and if they fall they that is their problem,
THAT MONEY COULD BE WELL REDISTRIBUTE FOR GETTING JOBS IN AMERICA again
TO RECOVER HER FIRST PLACE IN FINANCIAL ALLOCATION TO THE NEED OF AMERICA first and for most, that is where the focus must be only, as long as there is some left without work, and this for a time,
THERE SHOULD BE NO MORE EXPANSES TOWARD THE COUNTRIES WHO’S ONLY GOAL IS TO TAKE CONTROL OF THIS AMERICA, THE DELAY TO DO IT IS FAR BEHIND,
THE TIME TO THINK OF HERE FIRST IS MORE THAN IMPERATIVE AND BECAUSE OF IT REQUIRE A HAND OF STEEL
TO HOLD THE WEALTH AND PRESERVE IT FOR AMERICA TO USE IT’S TREASURES NOW AND PROFIT FROM IT, NO MATTER IF THEY LEAVE OUT THE COMPASSION UNTIL THEY GET BACK ON WHERE THEY SHOULD BE
WHY SHOULD AMERICA SUFFER WHILE HER MONEYS GO ABROAD, WHEN A FAMILY GET HARD TIME THEY TEND TO THEMSELVES FIRST AND RECOVER FASTER.
TIME HAS COME TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT WE GO GO FIRST