CAIRO: Egypt’s President Mohammed Mursi yesterday said a disputed new constitution guaranteed equality for all Egyptians, and downplayed the country’s economic woes in an address before a newly empowered senate.
Egyptians voted in a December referendum in favour of the charter, which was rushed through by an Islamist-dominated council amid political turmoil and became the focus of the country’s worst crisis since Mursi’s election in June.
The senate has been invested with legislative powers under the new charter until a parliament is elected in two months’ time.
“All are equal before the law, and in this constitution,” he said of the charter, adding that there would be “freedom for all people, with no exceptions,” he told a meeting of the Shura Council
The constitution has been fiercely criticised by human rights activists and the secular-leaning opposition for failing to guarantee women’s rights and potentially curtailing freedom of expression and freedom of worship.
“General indicators for the social and economic situation have shown some noticeable progress,” Morsi said of the economy, despite concerns over a downturn.
All sides must “realize the needs of the moment” and work only through “mature democracy while avoiding violence,” he told the 270-member Shura Council. “We condemn and reject all forms of violence by individuals, groups, institutions and even from the nation and its government. This is completely rejected.”
A declining Egyptian pound and a $4.8bn IMF loan stalled after weeks of often violent protests have put the country on edge, two years after the economy nosedived with an uprising that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak.
In a televised speech on Wednesday, Mursi welcomed the approval of an Islamist-backed charter in a referendum, despite fierce opposition protests, and pledged to turn his attention to the economy.
He also promised to reshuffle his cabinet. Two ministers, including an Islamist ally of Mursi, have so far resigned in disagreement with government policy.
Mass rallies that began in November after Mursi adopted extensive powers — later repealed — have now subsided, but the opposition this week called for further protests against the new constitution.
The opposition, led by the National Salvation Front coalition, sees the charter as a possible tool to introduce strict Shariah law by weakening human rights generally, women’s rights and the independence of the judiciary.
It also stressed that just one in three of Egypt’s 52 million voters actually cast a ballot in the two-stage referendum on December 15 and 22.
The likelihood of prolonged “elevated” political conflict despite the adoption of the constitution prompted the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s this week to knock Egypt’s long-term credit rating down a peg to “B-.”
The National Salvation Front is also now looking ahead and preparing for the upcoming parliamentary elections, after which the senate will be dissolved ahead of another round of elections.
Under the new constitution, the upper house of parliament, which normally has few powers, is now serving as the law-making body until a new legislating lower house is chosen in national elections expected within a few months. The upper house, called the Shura Council, has an overwhelming Islamist majority, mainly from Brotherhood and the allied ultraconservative Salafis.
Agencies
