Q. Who Hates the Egyptian Constituion?

[ajnabieh]

A. Everybody.


No, seriously, people weighing in against it include:

• Salafis ('fundamentalist' Islamists): They don't like Article 2, on the role of shari'a, because it's not strong enough; they worry people have too many rights; and, god forbid, the constitution might accidentally forbid child marriage. (My thoughts on that last are inappropriate to print in a professional environment.)


• The High Constitutional Court: Their powers of judicial review and independence are substantially reduced from the current situation. Worth noting that the judiciary right now is holding back on throwing out the entire constituent assembly; if they don't get what they want, this all might have been for naught.


• Human rights activists: both transnational and domestic activists are displeased. Too many rights for the salafis apparently equals insufficient rights for liberals.


• "Intellectuals": they're mad there's no clear role for them in the new government. I honestly can't tell if this is a serious objection that's grounded in something, or sour grapes, but either way I find it darkly amusing.


• Religious minorities: From the Copts worried about Islamism, to the Shias worried about the imposition of Sunni interpretations of law, and the Baha'i worried that they don't have any religious protections, it's safe to say that if your practice a minority religion in Egypt today, you're gonna be a little nervous.


• For crying out loud, even the hipsters are mad. (The political commentary on Cairo Gossip is surprisingly insightful for a blog that recently had readers try to identify people on the party scene from photos of their asses.)

So, who, precisely, is happy about the draft Egyptian constitution?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

This would be an excellent popcorn moment, if it weren't that it mattered so damn much.