Constituent Assembly members said they would meet on Tuesday to discuss controversial articles in the draft constitution, said Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and Nour Party representatives on Monday.
Younis Makhyoun, representative of the Nour Party, said his party would call for greater regulation of public freedoms, and for a clarification of Article 2, which states that the principles of Sharia are the main source of legislation.
FJP representative Farid Ismail said the assembly has already agreed on eight out of the 12 articles in contention. “We will end the dispute over the rest so that the constitution will reflect all political forces, not just a particular party,” he said.
Presidential advisor Ayman al-Sayyad called on political forces to prioritize national interests and set personal interests aside. “If the constitution is approved in a referendum, it would not be by more than 60 percent anyway,” he said.
He added that some political forces reject the draft constitution because it is secular, others because it is Islamic and does not establish a modern civil state, and still others because they were not involved in its drafting.
Nour Party Vice President Sayed Mostafa said his party would mobilize the people against the constitution if it violates Sharia.
Salafi leader Mohamed Moftah accused the Muslim Brotherhood of refusing to apply Sharia in the constitution to appease the liberals, out of fear that secular parties would ask the Brotherhood to disclose its funding sources.
“This draft allows the Christians to build churches, the Jews to build synagogues and the Shias to build mosques,” Moftah warned.
