SCAF’s Advisory Council urgent suggestions to save constitution

Head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi Cairo – Akram Ali Head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, said that the army is committed to hand over power to an elected civilian authority at the end of June, noting that the armed forces is standing at the same distance from all the presidential candidates, without giving any support to any one of them.
This came during the meeting of Tantawi and his deputy Sami Anan, Armed Forces Chief of Staff, on Sunday evening, with the SCAF’s Advisory Council led by Sameh Ashour. 15 members of the Advisory Council attended the meeting.
The SCAF discussed with the Advisory Council the issue of the formation of the constituent assembly that will draft the constitution. They also discussed the presidential elections, especially what is related to the People’s Assembly amendments on the law of Exercising Political Rights, which provided prevention of the symbols of the former regime from candidacy to or holding of any position, which is known as the Treachery or Political Isolation Law
The Assistance Secretary General of the Advisory Council, Abdullah al-Maghazi, said immediately after the meeting in press statements: “The meeting has not reached a final decision on the constituent assembly. It mainly discussed the necessity of setting decisive, clear and tight procedures, controls and standards for forming the constitution constituent assembly, and how to choose its members and determine their percentages in a way that ensures the representation of all currents, parties, powers and groups of society.
He emphasised that the SCAF has a serious step to take regarding this issue, particularly after the administrative judiciary has issued a sentence that ordains to stop the Egyptian parliament from forming the constituent assembly.
The Advisory Council explained that the SCAF assured them that amending Article 60 of the Constitutional Declaration will be presented for discussion among the other suggestions for resolving the crisis.
The Advisory Council stressed the necessity of setting clear standards and procedures for the formation of the constituent assembly that that ensure non-discrimination of any current or faction at the expense of another, as well as the necessity of the hundred members of the constituent assembly to be from outside the Parliament.
The Advisory Council’s Secretary General said that he presented a proposal during the meeting which suggested that the percentage of any party, institution, or religious current should not exceed 5 per cent, so all the ratios become balanced and equal. He added that the Council will convene a meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss this issue and how to be resolved. He explained that this meeting also aims to take a unified position  from the amendments on the law of Exercising the Political Rights, which have been approved by the parliament in order implement a political isolation for 10 years on those who belong to the former regime.
The Advisory Council member and former Prime Minister Abdel Aziz Hegazy said that there are many proposals have been introduced during the meeting with the Field Marshal Tantawi, and there was a difference of opinion. He added that the Council had submitted a study earlier and introduced  recommendations that called for the necessity of amending Article 60 of the Constitutionsl Declaration, which determines the standards of the constituent assembly, stressing that what is most important now is to have consensus between parties, political powers and religious currents.