Egypt Islamists approve new constitution

The sudden rush to rubber-stamp the charter came as the latest twist in a week-long crisis Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist supporters against a mostly secular and liberal opposition and the powerful judiciary.

CAIRO // Islamists approved a draft constitution for Egypt early today without the participation of liberal and Christian members, seeking to pre-empt a court ruling that could dissolve their panel with a rushed, marathon vote that further inflames the clash between the opposition and President Mohammed Morsi.

The move advanced a charter with an Islamist bent that rights experts say could give Muslim clerics oversight over legislation and bring restrictions on freedom of speech, women's rights and other liberties.

The draft must now be put to a nationwide referendum within 30 days. Mr Morsi said on Thursday it will be held "soon".

The Islamist-dominated assembly that has been working on the constitution for months raced to pass it, voting article by article on the draft's 234 articles for more than 16 hours. The lack of inclusion was on display in the nationally televised gathering: of the 85 members in attendance, there was not a single Christian and only four women, all Islamists.

For weeks, liberal, secular and Christian members, already a minority on the 100-member panel, have been withdrawing to protest what they call the Islamists' hijacking of the process.

"This constitution represents the diversity of the Egyptian people. All Egyptians, male and female, will find themselves in this constitution," Essam El Erian, a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared to the assembly after the last articles were passed just after sunrise Friday.

"We will implement the work of this constitution to hold in high esteem God's law, which was only ink on paper before, and to protect freedoms that were not previously respected," he said.

The sudden rush to finish came as the latest twist in a week-long crisis pitting Brotherhood veteran Mr Morsi and his Islamist supporters against a mostly secular and liberal opposition and the powerful judiciary. Voting had not been expected for another two months. But the assembly abruptly moved it up in order to pass the draft before Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court rules on Sunday on whether to dissolve the panel.

"I am saddened to see this come out while Egypt is so divided," Egypt's top reform leader, Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei said. But he predicted the document would not last long. "It will be part of political folklore and will go to the garbage bin of history."

A new opposition bloc led by Mr ElBaradei and other liberals said the assembly had lost its legitimacy.

"It is trying to impose a constitution monopolised by one trend and is the furthest from national consensus, produced in a farcical way," the National Salvation Front said in a statement, read by Waheed Abdel Meguid, one of the assembly members who withdrew.

Thursday's vote escalates the already bruising confrontation sparked last week when Mr Morsi gave himself near absolute powers by neutralising the judiciary, the last branch of the state not in his hands. Mr Morsi banned the courts from dissolving the constitutional assembly or the upper house of parliament and from reviewing his own decisions.

Speaking in an interview on state TV aired late on Thursday, Mr Morsi defended his edicts, saying they were a necessary "delicate surgery" needed to get Egypt through a transitional period and end instability he blamed on the lack of a constitution.

"The most important thing of this period is that we finish the constitution, so that we have a parliament under the constitution, elected properly, an independent judiciary, and a president who executes the law," Mr Morsi said.

In a sign of the divisions, protesters camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square who were watching the interview chanted against Mr Morsi and raised their shoes in the air in contempt.

The president's edicts sparked a powerful backlash in one of the worst bouts of turmoil since last year's ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. At least 200,000 people protested in Cairo's Tahrir square this week demanding he rescind the edicts.

Street clashes have already erupted between the two camps the past week, leaving at least two people dead and hundreds wounded. And more violence is possible.

The opposition plans another large protest today, and the Brotherhood has called a similar massive rally for the following day, though they decided to move it from Tahrir to avoid frictions.