I wanted to follow up my last post, a translation of the preamble of the proposed Egyptian constitution, with another translation. This time the source text is a response by the Chair of the History Department at the American University in Cairo, Khaled Fahmy, to the proposed constitution on his facebook. Fahmy argues that the constitution, which was drafted by a Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi-dominated body, proposes sweeping changes to Egyptian governance that open up space for abuse and corruption. I think this document provides the most in-depth account of secular/liberal grievances against the constitution that I have yet seen, so I wanted to share it with the English speakers among us. Continue reading
Law
Translation: Preamble of the proposed Egyptian constitution
Thousands of Egyptians have again taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest. This time, the offense stems from President Morsi’s efforts to ram through the text of a constitution that would drastically change the rule of law in Egypt. Morsi announced last Saturday, December 1st, that a referendum will be held on December 15th–a straight up or down vote on the constitution. Egyptians living abroad were supposed to begin voting today, but reports have surfaced that that process has been delayed. Continue reading
On the History of Egypt’s Constitutional Transition
The big news coming out of Egypt today is that secular liberals have walked out of the latest meeting of the Constituent Assembly (CA). This comes after a similar boycott of the last meeting of the CA in March 2012, and thus cast serious doubt on the ability of the Egyptian parliament as it is currently configured to write a new constitution. Continue reading
How did Ahmad Shafiq Succeed in the Egyptian Elections?
Wednesday March 2nd, 2011 was an historic night for Egyptian media in the midst of an historic period in Egyptian political life. Less than one month after Hosni Mubarak had stepped down from his thrity-year reign as President of Egypt, Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq went on Egyptian news channel ON TV to debate noted author and liberal columnist, Alaa al-Aswany. In the days before the 2011 revolution, media engagements by government figures were done with pre-scripted questions and were tightly controlled. This program would have a different format. Continue reading
Happy 10th Birthday, Gitmo!
I wanted to do a special post today for the tenth anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the extra-judicial facility where the United States government holds prisoners from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 779 prisoners have been held in Guantanamo Bay over the last decade. Exactly 6 have been charged of a crime. This post analyzes the legal issues surrounding Gitmo and finds that it is an illegal violation of the 5th amendment of the Constitution (“due process”). Continue reading
Kyle J. Anderson 