Egypt courts on strike; constitution writers hustle

Thursday, November 29, 2012

— CAIRO - Courts and factions engaged in a frantic lastminute scramble Wednesday in a struggle for power over the culmination of Egypt’s political transition after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

The two highest appellate courts went on strike, the Supreme Constitutional Court accused the president of blackmail, the Islamist leaders of the constitutional assembly rushed to complete the charter by the end of the day, and the Muslim Brotherhood called for a major demonstration Saturday to show off its own political muscle.

The dueling marked an escalation in a two-front war pitting Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, against the country’s courts on one side and against a galvanized opposition in the streets on the other that drew hundreds of thousands of Egyptians to Tahrir Square a day earlier in the biggest demonstration against Morsi since his election in June.

The uproar was set off by Morsi’s attempt six days ago to declare his own edicts above judicial scrutiny and thus eliminate the last check on his power until the approval of a new constitution. But Morsi’s gambit and the ensuing backlash are all aimed at the looming deadline of Sunday, when the Supreme Constitutional Court is expected to issue a ruling that could dissolve the constitutional assembly and once again upend Egypt’s chaotic transition.

Morsi has said he meant to head off the possibility that the Supreme Constitutional Court might dissolve the constitutional assembly before it can complete its work. Courts have already dissolved the recently elected Parliament, as well as an earlier constitutional assembly.

And while some judges on the constitutional court are esteemed as impartial jurists, its members were all picked by Mubarak. Some are considered political loyalists, and others have expressed deep fears of the Islamists.

The constitutional assembly’s announcement of its intent to wrap up a draft constitution by today has the potential to mitigate the institutional battle but inflame the political standoff.

The assembly may produce a document that could be sent to a referendum even if the court dissolves the assembly, unless the court seeks to strike down the draft along with the assembly. Or the court might refer the fate of the assembly to another panel, the administrative court, prolonging the uncertainty.

But the assembly’s rush is also stirring accusations that it is now letting politics hasten the drafting of a document intended as the definitive social contract to last for years to come. Many of the non-Islamists on the 100-member panel - about a quarter, according to the best estimates - have already walked out, damaging hopes that it might be presented as a product of consensus.

Many have complained that the Islamists running the assembly were closing off debates to push the document through before the court deadline, and some have raised technical issues about executive powers, election rules or the place of Islamic law in the text.

Information for this article was contributed by Mayy El-Sheikh of The New York Times and by Sarah El Deeb, Curt Anderson, Matthew Barakat and Gillian Flaccus of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 11/29/2012