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Farid Ismail: Some Constituent Assembly Withdrawals Merely a Media Show

Egypt’s constitution-writing panel exceeds 80,000 hours of work in 5 months; meets and canvasses opinions of millions of Egyptians in all provinces across the country; ploughs on despite ‘strategic’ withdrawal claims.

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Dr. Farid Ismail, member of the Constituent Assembly (CA) entrusted with drafting post-revolution Egypt’s national charter, affirmed that the CA never received any formal withdrawal notices, and that so claimed withdrawals are merely media maneuvers.

In a televised interview, Ismail denied allegations claiming that the new constitution was being rushed through, pointing out that the CA was in session for hundreds of hours, day and night, and held interviews and field trips for thousands more, “The CA is taking into consideration all relevant, great constitutions; and all political forces – covering all currents – are participating actively”.

Ismail further said that the CA benefited from constitutions of Egypt starting from 1923 to 1971, including amends of 2007. Meanwhile, Ismail denied articles of the constitution did not get enough revision or discussion time, adding that some were reviewed and discussed more than 20 times.

Turning to the issue of the CA’s Drafting Committee, Ismail said: "CA membership includes 25 of Egypt's most respected national figures. The CA has revised and discussed the chapter on Rights and Freedoms several times. Also the CA’s Committee on Independent Bodies and Regulators discussed its chapter five times.

"The System of Governance Committee, which deals with many articles, such as the Judiciary, compared the final product of the Drafting Committee with the final product of the CA’s System of Governance Committee: all articles were 95% unchanged.