Constitution not to include vice-presidency position

Mohamed Badran, a member of the drafting subcommittee of the 50-member committee tasked with amending the 2012 constitution, has said the subcommittee called for creating a vice presidency position, Egynews website reported. However, Amr al-Shobaky, head of the subcommittee for the system of governance, rejected the suggestion, the state-affiliated site said.

The members of Shobaky's committee suggested that creating a vice presidency position would increase the power of the presidency, Shobaky said.

In the current draft constitution authority is distributed between the parliament and the presidency to reduce the risk of one authority monopolizing power. Normally the head of parliament acts as vice president if necessary.

Shobaky said in a press statement on Sunday that his committee will reach, by the end of this week, a comprehensive vision on the status of the three main authorities — executive, legislative and judicial — for the amended constitution.

Meanwhile, Mervat al-Tallawy, the chairperson of the National Council for Women and a member of the 50-member committee, said that ignoring women, young people and Copts in the upcoming constitution cannot be tolerated.

Tallawy said the constitution is a way of creating harmonies to achieve social peace among the citizens of the same nation, and that misleading religious slogans caused all the recent events of violence and lack of stability.

She also said there is a need to put the international Muslim Brotherhood on lists of international terrorist organizations.