Nat’l Consensus Conference Calls on Military to Protect Secular Nature of State

Nat’l Consensus Conference Calls on Military to Protect Secular Nature of State

A meeting on Sunday ended with Egypt’s National Consensus agreeing that the new constitution should incorporate an article that presents the armed forces with the role of protecting Egypt’s secular nature.

 
According to an article in AlAhram newspaper, the call came from memebers of the Armed Forces, Investments and Monitoring Committee of the conference during their meeting with the deputy Prime Minister, Yehia El-Gamal to discuss Egypt’s interim period with political analysts, leaders and other interested parties.


Mervat El Telawy, former social affairs minister, asserted that this recommendation could prevent what she describes as "transforming Egypt into a theocracy if some groups won a majority in the parliamentary elections set for September"


According to members of the National Consensus Conference, it was significant that the constitution be drafted before the elections to give promising political forces time to gain momentum in the street. Some groups have expressed concern that having the poll first would result in some groups, referring to Islamists, having too much influence over the new constitution.