After a 19 hour session of voting by 85 members of the appointed 100 member Constituent Assembly, each article of the draft constitution passed. Now the new Constitution proposal is being printed and will be presented to President Morsi on Saturday; he, in turn, will set the date for the vote by the Egyptian people on whether or not to adopt this new Constitution.
Will the Egyptian people seriously consider this new Constitution before the time of the vote?
OR
Will the thousands who still gathered in Tahrir Square in protest of the President's recent power-play simply reject the proposal that was so quickly passed after many liberal, secular, and Christian voices felt disregarded in the 6 month discussion process?
AND
How many are really able to give the Constitution serious consideration?
With high illiteracy attempting to comprehend 234 Articles that took the framers 19 hours to simply vote on--how will the bulk of the population be able to correctly understand and vote on intelligently on this cornerstone for a new democracy in Egypt?
We have not viewed a copy of the document, but there reports of expanded Presidential powers as well as limited freedoms for media--whether or not these statements are true is hard to determine from the brief bits of information gathered from the reporting on a few of the Articles. There are already rumored concerns that peoples' votes in favor of the Constitution could be swayed with the promise of a bottle of oil and some bread. These are serious questions and accusations at a time when many people feel a strong division has been created in the country--some going as far as likening it to the precipice of "civil war".
Demonstrators have not left Tahrir, as you will see from the videos below--and countless thousands simply do not want to go and expose themselves to the possibility of violence in such gatherings, but are equally dissatisfied with moves of the President and the sudden approval process of the draft by the controversial Constituent Assembly. Many felt the rush of the process was simply to help provide President Morsi a way out of his "Pharaoh-like power" without looking weak.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood and others supportive of President Morsi have made the right decision to not demonstrate their support in Tahrir where so many continue to gather in protest. They will instead hold their demonstration at Cairo University on Saturday. This, again, is a wise move that will hopefully prevent further bloodshed or unnecessary loss of life in the midst of very passionately divided groups.
The need to continue to Pray for Egypt continues; Thank you for your ongoing interest and support...
Will the Egyptian people seriously consider this new Constitution before the time of the vote?
OR
Will the thousands who still gathered in Tahrir Square in protest of the President's recent power-play simply reject the proposal that was so quickly passed after many liberal, secular, and Christian voices felt disregarded in the 6 month discussion process?
AND
How many are really able to give the Constitution serious consideration?
With high illiteracy attempting to comprehend 234 Articles that took the framers 19 hours to simply vote on--how will the bulk of the population be able to correctly understand and vote on intelligently on this cornerstone for a new democracy in Egypt?
We have not viewed a copy of the document, but there reports of expanded Presidential powers as well as limited freedoms for media--whether or not these statements are true is hard to determine from the brief bits of information gathered from the reporting on a few of the Articles. There are already rumored concerns that peoples' votes in favor of the Constitution could be swayed with the promise of a bottle of oil and some bread. These are serious questions and accusations at a time when many people feel a strong division has been created in the country--some going as far as likening it to the precipice of "civil war".
Demonstrators have not left Tahrir, as you will see from the videos below--and countless thousands simply do not want to go and expose themselves to the possibility of violence in such gatherings, but are equally dissatisfied with moves of the President and the sudden approval process of the draft by the controversial Constituent Assembly. Many felt the rush of the process was simply to help provide President Morsi a way out of his "Pharaoh-like power" without looking weak.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood and others supportive of President Morsi have made the right decision to not demonstrate their support in Tahrir where so many continue to gather in protest. They will instead hold their demonstration at Cairo University on Saturday. This, again, is a wise move that will hopefully prevent further bloodshed or unnecessary loss of life in the midst of very passionately divided groups.
The need to continue to Pray for Egypt continues; Thank you for your ongoing interest and support...
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