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Islam likely to stay Egypt's state religion: sources
 [Al Arabiya] A committee appointed by Egypt's new ruling military council to draw up a new constitution in 10 days is unlikely to remove Article 2, which says Shariah is the main source of law, informed sources told Al Arabiya.The sources said that the committee is unlikely to touch most of the introductory articles that define the nature of the state, such as its religious, ethnic, and ideological orientation. The committee would instead focus more on amendments that would directly improve the state of democracy and guarantee the right of political participation for all. The committee is headed by an Islamist judge, Tarek al-Bishry, who opposed and criticized ousted Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak. Bishry was seen as an associate of al-Wasat (moderate) offshoot of the Moslem Brüderbund. The committee is made up of mainly judges and politicians, including a Coptic Christian and Moslem Brüderbund MP, and the fact that it was given just 10 days to draft a new constitution would make it difficult to touch some sensitive articles, like those dealing with religion. Article 76 is the most likely to be amended so that "it opens the door for independent candidates provided that they obtain supporting signatures from 25, 000 citizens who have the right age to vote in 15 provinces," a source told Al Arabiya. Such condition is designed to ensure that an independent candidate has a wide support base of constituents from different provinces. Posted by: Fred 2011-02-18 |
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