Daily Times

What is on the page today is a sketchbook rendition of the 236 articles of a legal charter. We will look at some of the deficits, challenges and oddities within the various articles. Those that provide a unique strength will not be discussed. I trust Daily Times readers to form their own conclusions.

During the final week of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) life, he set his earthly affairs in order. He also gave a steady line of instructions to the Ummah regarding their faith. Five days before his death remarks were directed toward “…he who from among you occupies a position of responsibility and is powerful enough to do harm or good…” (1) Very powerful men have crafted a document, which will determine whether harm or good is the fate of the average Egyptian citizen. This analysis will be bullet (military) format, due to space limitations.

Let’s start at the middle and bounce back to the end, as a present danger awaits the citizens. The year 2013 will be the one of political payback against the enemies of the state. This hazard is succinctly stated within the charter.

Article 77 falls under the subdivision ‘Guarantees for the Protection of Rights and Freedoms’. The third section states the following: “The law regulates the rules of appeal for felonies and offenses.” Fast forward to Article 234. It nullifies this freedom for a full year. “The provision concerning appeals on verdicts issued on crimes stated in the third part of Article 77 shall be valid starting a year after the Constitution has come into effect.” Essentially, Article 234 gives the state licence to keep political enemies on ice for the next 12 months. My eyes move back to Article 36: “Only places that are humanely and hygienically fit, and subject to judicial supervision, may be used for detention.” The dungeon cell honeycomb deep beneath the security building in Alexandria comes to mind as a distinctly inhumane locale. Unless citizens of the January 25 revolution who uploaded videos of this security domain did not follow through and pour a few metric tons of concrete into that little hellhole, it still exists. Political prisoners will be housed there. Perhaps journalist Ahmed Meligy is still being ‘rehabilitated’ (Article 37). We can only hope that his family jewels are not attached to an electrical current as this goes to press.

Article 38 envisions a state that guarantees the privacy of the citizen. The simple-minded would imagine a state without any active listening posts. Perhaps the authors had Surah Al-Hujurat, 12, in mind. But spying is just too damn easy these days. Everyone leaves a digital footprint.

Additional streams of thought regarding the role of state in citizens’ lives can be found in Article 199. Law enforcement is tasked with preserving order, public security and morality. Does that morality include enforcing outward displays of righteousness? Does this mean that women in hijab must be accompanied by a male family member when in a public square?

Regarding mosaic communities and public identity there is a lack of constitutional strength. Articles 3 and 43, which preserve religious liberty for minorities are cordoned by the third part of Article 46: “The State shall take the necessary measures to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage and promote cultural services.” The state is already lax regarding the rights of Christians.

Niqab-clad women, thoroughly convinced of their own righteousness, are busily assaulting Christian girls. Snip, snip! Yet in Christianity, a woman’s hair is given by the Creator as a sign of her personal glory and status in the community. Cover your hair. It is your right. My head is uncovered. I am a Christian. Here I stand, by the grace of God. Can I stand as an equal in Egypt? Or will I be shorn like a sheep by a scissor-wielding Muslim woman?

(2) Article 12 has a distinct deficit. It is a tributary from Articles one and two. I am in agreement that cultural and linguistic cohesion is necessary within sovereign nations to foster a sense of identity and integration. But fostering the Arabisation (word used in translation) of education, science and knowledge is within the narrow confines of classical scholarship. The universe is composed of a multiplicity of histories. Teach your national history. But minus a companionable present day relevancy, classical training for the masses is a dead-end street. A brain filled with the glories of Egyptian and Islamic history does not necessarily guarantee the foodstuff of life, as offered in the Preamble.

Article 31 tramples on freedom of expression, allows the state to micromanage criticism of the state organ and ensure that state patronage will go unchallenged. Articles 43 and 45 are dampened by article 44. Political cartoonists are well advised to consider a different line of employment. Article 215 establishes a National Media Council to regulate the affairs of radio, television, print and digital press. This Council, tasked with ensuring freedom of the media in all its forms, is also responsible for preserving the Arabic language, values and constructive traditions of society. Again, freedom finds definition under the canopy of Shari’ah.

The oddities of the constitution are to be found in Articles 41 and 68. Sports and organ trafficking have no place in a national charter. These issues belong under the agency of policy, which is promulgated in a post-election environment.

The international community must give a reasonable time allowance for the Morsi administration to access the policy corridor to amend constitutional deficits. The president has both positional and by direction authority to manage issues of state. The statistics will not lie. Benchmarks for education, income, quality of life, and equal economic opportunity must be examined. Freedom of the press must be assessed, including digital freedom. Human rights abuses must be closely monitored because we all share the same blood. Where is Ahmed Meligy?

(Concluded)

The writer is a freelance journalist and author of the novel Arsenal. She can be reached at tammyswof@msn.com