Nour Party denies reports it will participate in amending constitution

Abdallah Badran, a member of the Salafi-led Nour Party’s supreme council, denied reports that his party will participate in the 50-people committee tasked with amending the constitution, MENA reported. 

Badran said that discussions are still underway and that the party has not yet decided on its stance on the process.

Earlier on Sunday, state-run Al-Ahram reported that the Nour Party would be pushing for the inclusion of five of its members in the 50-person committee tasked with amending the constitution, officially announcing its participation in the process.

Badran reiterated that the party is adamant on keeping articles 2 and 219, which explains the principles of Sharia, as is.

Badran had reportedly told Al-Ahram that although the party has reservations, it has decided to participate in the process, hoping that the sessions in which the committee drafts the amendments are public.

The party is expected to issue a statement detailing its stance towards participating in the process, as well as naming its nominees for the committee.

A 10-person committee is scheduled to submit its final amendments to the draft constitution to interim President Adly Mansour on Sunday, after which the document will be referred to the 50-person committee, as per Article 29 of the Constitutional Declaration issued by Adly last month.

The broader committee of 50 people is expected to represent the diversity of society, including the various political parties, workers and farmers, syndicate members, national councils, and representatives from Al-Azhar, the Church, the Armed Forces, and the police.

This committee will approve the amendments within two months, then present them to the president, who will in turn put them up for referendum within a maximum of 30 days.

Some observers have criticized the constitutional stipulation that concerns the two committees, saying that amendments should go through a larger group of political representatives first and be fine-tuned later by judicial figures, rather than the other way around.

If all goes according to schedule, Egypt is slated to hit the polls to ratify a new constitution in November.