SCAF: Council to Oversee Constitution Drafting, Check Extremism

As Egypt’s new cabinet was sworn in, the SCAF announced that it will appoint a council to check the influence of religious extremists on the constitutional drafting process after declaring that the next parliament will not be representative enough to independently oversee the writing of a constitution. ”We are in the early stages of democracy,” said General Mukhtar Mulla, a member of the ruling military council. “The parliament is not representing all sectors of society.” According to constitutional amendments approved last March, the new elected parliament will be charged with forming a 100-member constituent assembly to write the new constitution. Mulla added that the new council will coordinate with parliament and the cabinet to ensure the assembly is representative of all religions, professions, and political parties.

The Associated Press also reported that the Muslim Brotherhood says it will boycott the council that will oversee drafting of the new constitution. Meanwhile, Nicholas D. Kristof writes that many Muslim Brotherhood members with whom he met ensured him, “We embrace moderate Islam … We are not the ultra-conservatives that people in the West envision.”