Will the Egyptian Constitution ship arrive at destination?

Since the January 25 revolution, four constitutional decrees have been issued. In March 2011, the second decree temporarily granted the military council with legislative powers until the parliamentary and presidential elections. This ended in August 2012, when the military council handed over the power to President Morsi, who was elected in June 2012. The latest constitutional decree is the fourth since the revolution, This declaration has given the President unprecedented powers: this did not happen in the 1923 Constitution, nor did it happen in the 1952 revolution after the revolution or the 1971 one. This new decree means that the President’s decisions cannot be challenged in any way and that he cannot be brought to justice. The new constitutional declaration gave the President of the Republic the right to appoint the Attorney General for a period of four years. Under this declaration, the prosecutor General Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid was dismissed and appointed adviser of Talaat Abdullah, the newly appointed prosecutor general. The reasons for this decree? The Revolution gave the president the responsibility to achieve its objectives: reforming the structure of the former regime and its symbols, bringing the corrupted to justice, protecting Egypt, and establishing a new Constitution that promotes the principles of freedom, justice and democracy. The decree decided to re-investigate the violence against protesters, according to the Law on the Protection of the Revolution. The decree was subjected to severe criticism particularly about the unlimited powers to the President. These unlimited powers are a legacy of the past, in light of the democratic transformations witnessed by the world, especially in Eastern Europe and Latin America in the late eighties and nineties. About 1000 judges participated in the march to refuse the new decree. Presidential adviser Samir Morcos has resigned; his colleague Al Sayad claimed that he was unaware of the project until it was issued. The majority and the political forces reject this constitutional declaration, except the Muslim Brotherhood movement and the Freedom and Justice party. This new decree poses an important problem: judiciary powers and executive powers cannot be held by the same hand in a democracy. This core principle is one of the pillars of a democratic state. Despite what Egypt has been through in terms of political struggle and tyranny, the judiciary has always remained independent. Even an elected president cannot grab this power. Under this decree, the President can dissolve political parties, shut down newspapers, violate human rights, without being questioned by anyone. Some of the president’s supporters and the Muslim Brotherhood justified that these authoritarian procedures were necessary to re-open an investigation on the violence in the protests and to get rid of the Mubarak-era prosecutor general. This reason does not make any sense, because as president he can pass a new law to allow the Attorney General to investigate this case. Morsi also claims he wants to protect state institutions. But this is an old tune sang by former President Hosni Mubarak, like the rest of the ruling parties and groups about their opponent.. The majority of members in the Constituent Assembly are members of the Muslim Brotherhood party and Salafis. About a third of the liberals withdrew from the Assembly to demand the formation of a new one, which would equally represent the Egyptian society. This decree gives Morsi and the Constituent Assembly a chance to write a Constitution, to strengthen the Shura Council – a situation that is comparable to the Iranian regime. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.