Egypt frets as military writes rules for constitution

The Egyptian military's budget has never been disclosed to parliament. Photo: Reuters

THE military council governing Egypt has begun moves to lay down its ground rules for a constitution that would protect and potentially expand its authority, in a process likely to reignite protests in the Arab world's most populous nation.
The military announced last week that it planned to adopt a ''declaration of basic principles'' to govern the drafting of a constitution. Liberals here initially welcomed the move as a concession to their demand for a Bill-of-Rights-style guarantee of civil liberties that would limit the potential repercussions of an Islamist victory at the polls.
But experts enlisted by the military to write the declaration say that it will spell out the armed forces' role in the civilian government, potentially shielding the defence budget from public or parliamentary scrutiny and protecting the military's vast economic interests.

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The military planned to adopt the document before any election, referendum or constitution set up a civilian authority, said Mohamed Nour Farahat, a professor working on the document. That was an about-face for a force that, after helping to oust president Hosni Mubarak, consistently pledged to turn over power to elected officials who would draft a constitution.
The military is long accustomed to virtual autonomy. Its budget has never been disclosed to Parliament, and its operations extend into businesses such as hotels, consumer electronics, bottled water and car making.
Ibrahim Darwish, an Egyptian legal scholar involved in devising a new Turkish constitution to reduce the political role of its armed forces, said the Egyptian military seemed to be emulating its Turkish counterpart. After a 1980 coup, the Turkish military assigned itself a broad role in politics as guarantor of the secular state and in the process contributed to years of political turbulence.
''The constitution can't be monopolised by one institution,'' he said. ''It is Parliament that makes the constitution, not the other way around.''
Liberals - most notably Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN diplomat who is running for the presidency - have advocated a code of universal rights as a compromise in the increasingly bitter debate between Islamists calling for an early election and liberals demanding a constitution first. Dr ElBaradei, whose own proposal includes a provision that narrowly defines the military's role, said its declaration ''really should be put to a referendum so it would have some legitimacy''.
Demonstrators have returned to Tahrir Square with increasing frequency to voice their demands, culminating in a week-long sit-in rivalling the early days of the protests.
Last week, the government offered concessions, removing hundreds of senior police officers accused of killing protesters during the uprising. It also announced ''the declaration of basic principles''.
This time, however, the demonstrators refused to budge. On Saturday afternoon, General Tarek Mahdy, a member of the governing council, attempted to speak in Tahrir Square and was chanted off a stage.
NEW YORK TIMES


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