Constitutional committee agrees on bylaws

Consensus or 75 percent approval will be required for constitutional articles to be approved by the 50-member committee tasked with amending the current draft, the state-run Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday. 

In cases where there is no consensus, the debate will be adjourned for 24 hours and if there is still no consensus, a 75 percent majority would be the last resort for voting on contested constitutional articles. 

Sessions have to be attended by an absolute majority, according to the bylaws of the committee discussed in meetings this week. The decision to achieve consensus or a threshold of 75% followed heated debate, Al-Ahram reported. Some members argued that the committee should have mechanisms that optimize the representation of the majority of Egyptians. 

According to the bylaws of the committee, reserve members will have the right to vote in cases where the primary members are not present for voting. If a member cannot attend a session, he or she should let the secretariat know the reason for their absence. They will then be replaced by a secondary member who shall also have voting rights if the session they are attending is a voting one. 

The general sessions of the committee will be aired on television, though the committee has the right to bring broadcasting to a stop.

Al-Ahram also reported a heated debate between committee members about the committee’s relationship to the press. Writer Mohamed Salmawy was chosen as the committee’s spokesperson, while all other members are banned in the bylaws from giving statements to the press. This should not however compromise their duty to interact with people and through social media as long as they voice their individual opinions. 

The 50-member committee will amend the constitutional draft submitted by a committee of 10 legal experts after which it will be put to referendum. This process was laid out in a constitutional referendum issued in July by interim President Adly Mansour following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi.

Meanwhile, the Rights and Freedoms subcommittee within the 50-member committee, headed by academic Hoda al-Sadda, expelled reporters from its first meeting, although reporters were allowed to attend other subcommittee meetings, the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. The decision caused a division within the subcommittee, with some members calling for journalists to leave and others saying they should say.

The newspaper reported that artist and committee member Mohamed Abla saying that, “Journalists should be barred because some members may express certain opinions and then later go back on them.” Journalists objected to the decision and said that they fought for their presence before in parliament and that they should have the right to attend all the constitutional committees meetings.