Egypt draft constitution may ban religious political parties

[Who2]

At last some good news.....
http://rt.com/news/egypt-constitution-r ... y-ban-646/

[LovelyLadyLux]

Definitely a gigantic step in the right direction. Hope the momentum keeps positive, progresses well and quickly and a positive productive resolution to everything can be achieved.

[Bombay]

And the NDP can run for elections.

[Who2]

Yes and the NDP could have had a Luxor Party HQ on the Corniche if, if they hadn't knocked it down....

Nb: the furthest one.......

[Bombay]

I always thought those 2 houses would have made a great Luxor Museum.
Or an Indian Restaurant

[Brian Yare]

Do we need another Indian restaurant in Luxor at the moment? :dun:

[carrie]

Looking at the photos reminded me of those two ladies who were killed there, has anyone heard if there have been any arrests?

[Bullet Magnet]

At last some good news.....
http://rt.com/news/egypt-constitution-r ... y-ban-646/

Amen to that...

[Dusak]

Do we need another Indian restaurant in Luxor at the moment? :dun:

No, the one we have is good enough. But this one would be closer to my home.

[Bombay]

Do we need another Indian restaurant in Luxor at the moment? :dun:

Is that we in "Worcester' or us in Luxor

[Brian Yare]

Do we need another Indian restaurant in Luxor at the moment? :dun:

Is that we in "Worcester' or us in Luxor

We certainly have more than enough in Worcester - I pass about 10 on my short bus ride into the city centre, and they have very few customers most of the time.

[Hafiz]

No journo has actually seen the draft but a few are speculating on how a gerrymander could be constructed to the advantage of the non-Islamists. I don't fully understand the following but others might:

"The constitutional amendments drafted by the committee are due to go to a diverse 50-strong assembly to be appointed by the interim government, but they are already proving contentious.

Curiously, given that popular protests helped sweep away Egypt's last two leaders, one new article would outlaw this and would give parliament the sole right to dismiss a president.

"What is the point of having an article like that?" asked rights activist Gamal Eid. "The whole world will laugh at us."

RETURN TO OLD VOTING SYSTEM
The committee is likely to propose retaining an article that exempts Egypt's powerful military from financial or political auditing, insiders on the body said. Mursi, anxious not to alienate the defense establishment, had also left this alone.

One of the most significant suggested changes would return Egypt to voting for individual candidates, rather than reserving some seats for party lists, in parliamentary elections.

Under the current system, in which two-thirds of seats go to party lists and one-third to individuals, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties won about 80 percent of seats in the first parliamentary election after Mubarak's overthrow in 2011

This change seems to target Islamists and it will be wrong and undemocratic," Eid said. "We had complaints ... about the Brotherhood and Islamists, but that does not mean ruling them out of politics as this will only lead to more violence."

Khaled Dawoud, a member of the liberal Dostour party, described the proposal as a return to the Mubarak era, when votes were routinely rigged to enable the president's National Democratic Party (NDP) to maintain its dominance of parliament.

The system allowed individuals, mostly aligned with the NDP, to run as "independents" using local patronage networks to get into parliament. Brotherhood candidates also ran candidates as independents to keep a limited presence in the assembly.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/ ... 6420130824

More than one way to skin a cat.