Opposition accuses president and Muslim Brotherhood of
partisanship in writing new constitution for country.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi recently met leaders of
several political groups to discuss a draft of the proposed new constitution as
part of an attempt to bridge a growing gap between his administration and the
opposition.
The rift between Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood government and a
range of secular opposition groups has been widening since he took office at
the end of June
Morsi’s opponents fear his policies are weak on issues such
as social and economic equality, human and minority rights, and swift justice
for those killed or injured during Egypt's revolution.
Opponents also fear that Brotherhood partisans dominate new
government appointments and membership of Constituent Assembly (CA), the
committee writing the new constitution, making it unable to give Egypt a
balanced and representative constitution that can gain political consensus.
Two weeks ago, political tension reached worrying levels,
when protesters supporting the Brotherhood clashed with demonstrators from
opposition groups in Tahri Square.
Opposition to Morsi and the Brotherhood is led by various
secular parties including the Constitution Party (CP), headed by Former UN
nuclear agency chief, Mohamed Elbaradei, and the Popular Current (PC), led by
former presidential candidate, Hamdeen Sabahi.
Both groups did not attend a meeting last Wednesday where various parties
were discussing the new constitution.
Growing disenchantment
What seems particularly troubling to Morsi is that even some
of his former allies are joining the opposition ranks.
Hasan Nafeah, a political science professor in Cairo
University, is a member of the National Front (NF), an ad-hoc alliance of
prominent Egyptian intellectuals and activists who endorsed Morsi's
presidential campaign giving him much needed support from outside the Muslim
Brotherhood's religious power base.
Today, Nafeah and other members of his group feel betrayed.
The Muslim Brotherhood "didn't do what we agreed with them on", he
told Al Jazeera.
Before he was announced winner, Morsi had agreed to several
demands, including appointing a national unity government led by a known
political figure and promoting more liberal and leftist figures to membership
of the Constituent Assembly (CA).
"I prefer the appointment of a new cabinet" said
Nafeah. "A cabinet made of heavyweight political leaders who can share
power with president Morsi and give the impression that a national unity
government exists."
Nafeah fears a looming crisis over the constitution, warning
that "Muslim Brotherhood policies open the door for a military coup.
Reluctant partners
The idea of national unity government may sound like a good
suggestion to overcome political differences and to bring the Muslim
Brotherhood and their opponents together. Yet, it faces several obstacles.
Egypt has been in a constitutional limbo for more than 20
months since the revolution that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.
The CA chairman says a new constitution will be ready by the
third week of November. This means Egypt should get ready for a referendum and
new parliament elections soon thereafter.
The tight schedule allows a short time for a political
dialogue for formation of a national unity cabinet. More importantly, groups
like the CP and PC, which are leading the opposition to President Morsi are
against the idea of joining his administration. They believe their agendas are
too different for the MB's to join forces with them.
"We will not have representation in any political
institution led by the Muslim Brotherhood unless we are elected to it,"
says Hossam Moanis, spokesperson of the
PC. "We refuse to be appointed to any government institution by Muslim
Brotherhood leaders because our social and economic agendas are different from
theirs"
Moanis complains that
Morsi did not achieve "anything" when it comes to top issues on PC's
political agenda, such as defining clear policies to achieve social justice;
bringing justice to those killed during the revolution; and balancing the
political make-up of the CA.
Emad Abu Ghazi, the general trustee of the CP, says his
party's focus is on drafting a new constitution. "We don't right now have
ideas about joining Morsi's cabinet," he said.
Abou Ghazi said his party had been in talks with PC and
others over how to provide alternatives to current CA, which they think is not
representative of all Egyptians and cannot produce a constitution that can gain
wide public approval and political consensus.
Dialogue initiatives
Under pressure, both Morsi and the Brotherhood's Freedom and
Justice Party have announced initiatives for a dialogue.
Saif AlDeen Abdel Fatah, a presidential adviser, told Al
Jazeera that Morsi would be engaging in dialogue sessions with the various groups and political forces.
He said the negotiations would seek to "build
trust" and "unite pro-revolution forces."He hoped the
"views of many of the political forces regarding the new constitution will
be incorporated in the draft to avoid disagreement."
Abdel Fatah even suggested the idea of approving "a
temporary constitution."
Helmy AlGazar, a senior leader of the Freedom and Justice
Party, told Al Jazeera that his party would be launching soon a political
dialogue initiative independent form that of the president. But he seemed to
neither agree to the idea of changing the makeup of the constituent assembly
nor to the suggestion of agreeing to a temporary constitution.
"Dialogue will not be over the make-up of the CA
because the assembly is independent and no one has the power to change its members…
the idea of a temporary constitution is not suggested inside the CA."
Moataz Abdel Fatah, a political science professor at Cairo
University and an adviser to former Prime
Minister Essam Sharaf, felt hardline opponents of Morsi were making
"political rather than legal" demands.
"Some times the president is not against the demands.
He just needs time," he said.
Wael Khaleel, a leftist activist and a member of the Human
Rights Council, blamed both the Muslim Brotherhood and their opponents for the
polarisation. "Unwavering support to president and unwavering opposition
is the problem."
"The MB has to understand that not all criticism is an
attack on Egypt and them. Some opposition groups have to understand that the
new president was elected by the people and he is not the Mubarak regime."
"There are moderates inside each political group and
they have to be empowered," Khaleel suggested. But that's easier said than
done in Egypt's current polarised environment.
