Dear friends and colleagues:
I first read in early December an authenticated copy of the draft constitution signed on every page by the chairman of the 50 Committee Mr. Amro Mousa. Since then, I have been following closely the debate about it in the blogo-sphere.
And today, on the last day of December 2013, I reread very slowly and deliberately every article of the 64 page document.
I want to urge every one of you to vote, and your vote to be Y E S.
Not only do I feel impressed by the substance and the articulation of the draft document, but also by the process by which the 50 members of the Committee, as well as the members of the 10 Committee before it were chosen. That process followed by Interim President Adly Mansour has demonstrated such objectivity that is rare in today's politicians and statesmen anywhere in the world.
I am certain that each one of us would have preferred this article or that to be written this way or that. But we must remember that, thanks to the January 25 Revolution Egyptian society has been so politicized and virtually everyone now has an opinion with varying degrees of certitude about almost every subject.
For us who live in America it is unavoidable that one would compare this draft with the US constitution. While of course we should aspire for the Egyptian constitution to live up to the same standards in basic human rights, freedoms, equality, justice and other values, comparing every detail of the two documents would be like measuring centimeters with an inch ruler.
From social, cultural and geopolitical point of view the two societies exhibit fundamental differences in some aspects. And in my opinion the draft Egyptian constitution measures as superior. Let me give just a couple of examples.
About four decades ago the feminist movement in America was at its peak. The two houses of congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment. To become a part of the US constitution it needed ratification by at least 30 States. And the process needed to be completed within ten years. That Equal Rights Amendment failed to get ratified by thirty States within the deadline!
Article #11 of the Egyptian draft enshrines gender equality and equal rights for women in Egyptian society!!
Some of us say, we must have civilian control over the military NOW! Military budget must be public now. No commercial enterprises to be allowed for the military.
Who of us knows the budget for the NSA? And whose cell phone of us is monitored? Thanks to Edward Snowden, it seems all of us!
We all know that there are certain commercial activities which are owned, controlled or run by the military in Egypt. One major example is the Safi water bottling operation. We know that bottled drinking water in Egypt is totally foreign controlled now. From Schweppes, Nestle, Pepsi, Coca Cola, etc. In the event of any military operation in the Sinai, the Western Desert or the Sudanese border, do we want the drinking water faucet for our soldiers to be controlled by a Swiss, an American or an Italian hand?
Looking at the document as a whole, I feel overwhelming gratitude, admiration and recognition for those who devoted generously of their time and talent to produce this document under all odds and tensions from many quarters. This being said we recognize of course that a constitution is a dynamic living organism to grow and develop along with society. And indeed the document itself includes the terms and procedures of adding amendments as the need may become under a controlled and judicious process.
Long live Egypt under True Democracy, Sustainable Development and Social Justice
Mahmoud Elshazly
I first read in early December an authenticated copy of the draft constitution signed on every page by the chairman of the 50 Committee Mr. Amro Mousa. Since then, I have been following closely the debate about it in the blogo-sphere.
And today, on the last day of December 2013, I reread very slowly and deliberately every article of the 64 page document.
I want to urge every one of you to vote, and your vote to be Y E S.
Not only do I feel impressed by the substance and the articulation of the draft document, but also by the process by which the 50 members of the Committee, as well as the members of the 10 Committee before it were chosen. That process followed by Interim President Adly Mansour has demonstrated such objectivity that is rare in today's politicians and statesmen anywhere in the world.
I am certain that each one of us would have preferred this article or that to be written this way or that. But we must remember that, thanks to the January 25 Revolution Egyptian society has been so politicized and virtually everyone now has an opinion with varying degrees of certitude about almost every subject.
For us who live in America it is unavoidable that one would compare this draft with the US constitution. While of course we should aspire for the Egyptian constitution to live up to the same standards in basic human rights, freedoms, equality, justice and other values, comparing every detail of the two documents would be like measuring centimeters with an inch ruler.
From social, cultural and geopolitical point of view the two societies exhibit fundamental differences in some aspects. And in my opinion the draft Egyptian constitution measures as superior. Let me give just a couple of examples.
About four decades ago the feminist movement in America was at its peak. The two houses of congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment. To become a part of the US constitution it needed ratification by at least 30 States. And the process needed to be completed within ten years. That Equal Rights Amendment failed to get ratified by thirty States within the deadline!
Article #11 of the Egyptian draft enshrines gender equality and equal rights for women in Egyptian society!!
Some of us say, we must have civilian control over the military NOW! Military budget must be public now. No commercial enterprises to be allowed for the military.
Who of us knows the budget for the NSA? And whose cell phone of us is monitored? Thanks to Edward Snowden, it seems all of us!
We all know that there are certain commercial activities which are owned, controlled or run by the military in Egypt. One major example is the Safi water bottling operation. We know that bottled drinking water in Egypt is totally foreign controlled now. From Schweppes, Nestle, Pepsi, Coca Cola, etc. In the event of any military operation in the Sinai, the Western Desert or the Sudanese border, do we want the drinking water faucet for our soldiers to be controlled by a Swiss, an American or an Italian hand?
Looking at the document as a whole, I feel overwhelming gratitude, admiration and recognition for those who devoted generously of their time and talent to produce this document under all odds and tensions from many quarters. This being said we recognize of course that a constitution is a dynamic living organism to grow and develop along with society. And indeed the document itself includes the terms and procedures of adding amendments as the need may become under a controlled and judicious process.
Long live Egypt under True Democracy, Sustainable Development and Social Justice
Mahmoud Elshazly
