What's in Egypt's proposed 2014 Constitution?

[Yamato]

Looking at the changes made in this 2014 Constitution vs. 2012's under President Morsi (which itself reformed the 1971 Constitution), three distinct differences seem to emerge:

1) Islam has less influence over the Egyptian government

2) The President of Egypt has less power

3) Egyptian women have a more equal legal footing with Egyptian men.

http://www.aljazeera...2385987166.html

[+and-then]

Looking at the changes made in this 2014 Constitution vs. 2012's under President Morsi (which itself reformed the 1971 Constitution), three distinct differences seem to emerge:

1) Islam has less influence over the Egyptian government

2) The President of Egypt has less power

3) Egyptian women have a more equal legal footing with Egyptian men.

http://www.aljazeera...2385987166.html

It's good to know. Three very positive changes.

[meryt-tetisheri]

Looking at the changes made in this 2014 Constitution vs. 2012's under President Morsi (which itself reformed the 1971 Constitution), three distinct differences seem to emerge:

1) Islam has less influence over the Egyptian government

2) The President of Egypt has less power

3) Egyptian women have a more equal legal footing with Egyptian men.

http://www.aljazeera...2385987166.html

The new constitution has a lot more to offer than the 2012 one, but Jazeera is neither an objective nor reliable source to read about it. I would suggest

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/egypts-new-proposed-constitution-sabry.html

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-s-draft-constitution-translated

http://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/2444/

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/english-translation-of-egypt-s-2013-draft-constitution

I am in Cairo now and though I cannot vote myself, I accompanied my mother who insisted on voting despite her health problems. As a matter of fact, women formed one of the largest voter blocks this time!

In brief, the turn out was high, the atmosphere festive! Many people danced and sang as they left the voting centers, distributed flowers and sweets, draped flags on their shoulders and posed for pictures next to army and police officers guarding the premises! Frankly I would have also posed for a picture, but as our area is considered safe, there were no 'Darth Vader uniformed' special forces there

However, it is not all fun and songs, the MB continue to be violent sour losers: a police kiosk was torched near my mom's house (one among many incidents taking place elsewhere), MB students invaded Cairo University yesterday and shot the son of the university president in the back twice, disrupted the exams of fellow students, they tried to block train tracks to prevent people from voting...a courthouse was bombed and the angry inhabitants of the area demonstrated afterwards chanting ''we will not be terrified/scared''. People here are at the end of their tether with the constant threats. The MB, it seems, are masters of enticing people's anger and opposition.

[RedSquirrel]

Meryt, I 'liked' what you posted about the joy and celebration. I'm sorry that there was a bad part to it. I hope that one day, the whole world can celebrate together.

[Yamato]

Yet as riddled with problems as revolutions always are, Egypt is no Syria.

Instead of creating media blacklists for where we don't get our information from, let us just address the media's errors as they come. If there were any errors in the Al Jazeera article, I don't know what they are. The more attention I pay to media the more I learn that there is no such thing as "objective media". It all needs to be weighed and corrected by both time and people for its objectivity.

[Wickian]

Wasn't there a provision to allow equal rights/treatment to Christians as well?

[EllJay]

Looking at the changes made in this 2014 Constitution vs. 2012's under President Morsi (which itself reformed the 1971 Constitution), three distinct differences seem to emerge:

1) Islam has less influence over the Egyptian government

2) The President of Egypt has less power

3) Egyptian women have a more equal legal footing with Egyptian men.

http://www.aljazeera...2385987166.html

Some good changes there. Totally diametrical to the Muslim Brotherhoods policy, I would say.

Maybe that country can come back from the edge of the precipice, after all.

[Almagest]

I'm glad that they're waking up to the fact that in order to step into the modern world you have to elevate your sisters from mere baby-factories to fully functional and enfranchised citizens. It's good to hear that they're strengthening religious tolerance, the treatment of Coptic Christians and unbelievers in Egypt has been pretty appalling.

[meryt-tetisheri]

Yet as riddled with problems as revolutions always are, Egypt is no Syria.

Instead of creating media blacklists for where we don't get our information from, let us just address the media's errors as they come. If there were any errors in the Al Jazeera article, I don't know what they are. The more attention I pay to media the more I learn that there is no such thing as "objective media". It all needs to be weighed and corrected by both time and people for its objectivity.

I am not creating media blacklists, but when a source is known to be biased, or deliberately resorts to misinformation, or taking words out of context to serve a political purpose of its own, then it is not that unusual to recommend checking out Egyptian and other less biased sources.

An example is the quotation they inserted under Military trials: '' In a televised interview last month, General Medhat Radwan Ghazi, the head of military justice, said that civilians could face military courts for offences such as arguing with the employees of army-owned gas stations.'' The context of this quote was a televised interview in which the presenter asked the General if a customer had a fight with an employee of an army-owned gas station while filling his car tank, would he face military trial. The answer was under normal circumstances people do not pick fights while filling their car tanks, but if the 'customer' attempts to torch the gas station or destroy it then yes he would face a military trial. Bear in mind that bombs were actually placed in gas stations one of which (privately owned) is in the middle of a very crowded square in a residential area and is surrounded by apartment buildings. This situation is not exactly a mere hypothetical one, but Jazeera chose to omit the background of the situation and most of what the General said. Didn't you find it a bit absurd that such an anecdotal quote was used in an outline comparing two charters?

[meryt-tetisheri]

Wasn't there a provision to allow equal rights/treatment to Christians as well?

The provision provides equal rights to all Egyptians regardless of gender, religion, political affiliation, ethnicity, or geographical origin. It allows free practice of religion, and building churches etc. which was always a bone of contention and a source of conflict. It also forbids discrimination in the work place.

[meryt-tetisheri]

Some good changes there. Totally diametrical to the Muslim Brotherhoods policy, I would say.

Maybe that country can come back from the edge of the precipice, after all.

I'm glad that they're waking up to the fact that in order to step into the modern world you have to elevate your sisters from mere baby-factories to fully functional and enfranchised citizens. It's good to hear that they're strengthening religious tolerance, the treatment of Coptic Christians and unbelievers in Egypt has been pretty appalling.

The Muslim Brotherhood charter of 2012 aimed to do away with the minimum marriage age, which would have allowed girls to be married off at any age, legalized pedophilia in other words. This has been done away with in the 2014 charter. There is a reason why women voted for it en masse

[meryt-tetisheri]

Meryt, I 'liked' what you posted about the joy and celebration. I'm sorry that there was a bad part to it. I hope that one day, the whole world can celebrate together.

The joy was genuine and contagious! I am really happy to have had the opportunity to witness it, Egypt breathing a huge sigh of relief

[Yamato]

I am not creating media blacklists, but when a source is known to be biased, or deliberately resorts to misinformation, or taking words out of context to serve a political purpose of its own, then it is not that unusual to recommend checking out Egyptian and other less biased sources.

An example is the quotation they inserted under Military trials: '' In a televised interview last month, General Medhat Radwan Ghazi, the head of military justice, said that civilians could face military courts for offences such as arguing with the employees of army-owned gas stations.'' The context of this quote was a televised interview in which the presenter asked the General if a customer had a fight with an employee of an army-owned gas station while filling his car tank, would he face military trial. The answer was under normal circumstances people do not pick fights while filling their car tanks, but if the 'customer' attempts to torch the gas station or destroy it then yes he would face a military trial. Bear in mind that bombs were actually placed in gas stations one of which (privately owned) is in the middle of a very crowded square in a residential area and is surrounded by apartment buildings. This situation is not exactly a mere hypothetical one, but Jazeera chose to omit the background of the situation and most of what the General said. Didn't you find it a bit absurd that such an anecdotal quote was used in an outline comparing two charters?

Unfortunately I find the whole mass media absurd every day but I see nothing wrong with any of the above. You have to demonstrate Al Jazeera is uncommonly terrible to have any chance of me blacklisting it.

[meryt-tetisheri]

Unfortunately I find the whole mass media absurd every day but I see nothing wrong with any of the above. You have to demonstrate Al Jazeera is uncommonly terrible to have any chance of me blacklisting it.

Again, I'm not asking you to blacklist anything. It is up to you to decide if Jazeera's professionalism and credibility are adequate enough for you to consider it a reliable source of information. I don't, and for very good reasons: their coverage is slanted and biased, aiming to propagate MB propaganda and to serve Qatar's political agenda in the ME. Several Egyptian, Syrian, and Lebanese journalists resigned from Jazeera in protest

Jazeera is not above using old pictures of demonstrations which took place in one city to report non-existent demonstrations in another city, or film rows of corpses of alleged victims though some of the shrouded said corpses are moving, or report that Sisi was assassinated and it's his double who is appearing in public...(!!!)

( Sphinx Square - Cairo- free in fact, full on Al-Jazeera!)

( Al-Jazeera reporting a Muslim Brotherhood dead man, with fake blood, kicking the doctor who tried to inspect the 'corpse')

These are just a few examples, you can research and assess the reliability of Jazeera on your own. Personally, I find their use of the out of context and abridged quotation in the middle of what should be an objective comparison of two charters highly objectionable and absurd.

[meryt-tetisheri]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/media-lies-and-fabrications-fully-revealed-al-jazeera-s-identity-crisis/29763

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3ea_1302693762

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/9/we-aired-lies-al-jazeera-staff-quit-over-biased-eg/

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/2013/07/09/Al-Jazeera-employees-in-Egypt-quit-over-editorial-line-.html

[docyabut2]

The provision provides equal rights to all Egyptians regardless of gender, religion, political affiliation, ethnicity, or geographical origin. It allows free practice of religion, and building churches etc. which was always a bone of contention and a source of conflict. It also forbids discrimination in the work place.

Good luck Meryt and keep safe

[meryt-tetisheri]

Good luck Meryt and keep safe

Thank you...I stay indoors on Fridays, the MB's preferred day to ambush people

[Yamato]

Again, I'm not asking you to blacklist anything. It is up to you to decide if Jazeera's professionalism and credibility are adequate enough for you to consider it a reliable source of information. I don't, and for very good reasons: their coverage is slanted and biased, aiming to propagate MB propaganda and to serve Qatar's political agenda in the ME. Several Egyptian, Syrian, and Lebanese journalists resigned from Jazeera in protest

Jazeera is not above using old pictures of demonstrations which took place in one city to report non-existent demonstrations in another city, or film rows of corpses of alleged victims though some of the shrouded said corpses are moving, or report that Sisi was assassinated and it's his double who is appearing in public...(!!!)

These are just a few examples, you can research and assess the reliability of Jazeera on your own. Personally, I find their use of the out of context and abridged quotation in the middle of what should be an objective comparison of two charters highly objectionable and absurd.

Stock footage is used often in US media reporting. Americans have seen Al Qaeda swinging on the monkey bars hundreds of times in hundreds of different reports through the years. Is it misleading? It does welcome that possibility but it's also cheaper and more interesting to look at than people sitting behind a desk talking to us.

I could show you plenty of media content from the US that's absurd too but that would miss the point. I've already concluded that Al Jazeera is as reliable as a flat tire, which is comparable to every other MSM source that I can think of. Rank-ordering media outlets for their imperfections would be an endless exercise. I acknowledge your criticisms of Al Jazeera but no single source is good enough for everyone. Some aren't good enough for scripture-reading Muslims who pray five times a day, while others aren't good enough for liberals/secularists. None of them are perfect nor perfectly objective.

I have always been optimistic about Egypt's future and now more than ever.

[meryt-tetisheri]

Stock footage is used often in US media reporting. Americans have seen Al Qaeda swinging on the monkey bars hundreds of times in hundreds of different reports through the years. Is it misleading? It does welcome that possibility but it's also cheaper and more interesting to look at than people sitting behind a desk talking to us.

I could show you plenty of media content from the US that's absurd too but that would miss the point. I've already concluded that Al Jazeera is as reliable as a flat tire, which is comparable to every other MSM source that I can think of. Rank-ordering media outlets for their imperfections would be an endless exercise. I acknowledge your criticisms of Al Jazeera but no single source is good enough for everyone. Some aren't good enough for scripture-reading Muslims who pray five times a day, while others aren't good enough for liberals/secularists. None of them are perfect nor perfectly objective.

I have always been optimistic about Egypt's future and now more than ever.

I can't remember if I translated the Arabic text on the TV screen in the "Sphinx Square" clip, it said 'happening now', i.e. live coverage, I classified that as deliberate misinformation, rather than just using stock image. The other clip is frankly funny, using Halloween fake blood (or maybe ketchup or tomato sauce) on fake corpses that kick!

I agree with you that at the end all media must be taken with a pinch of salt. I too am optimistic about Egypt's future