It is obvious that the formation of the Constitution has been a major source of contention between Islamists and non-Islamists. Jayson Casper has been interviewing members of the Constituent Assembly, a reserve member, and political analyst, Prof. Dr. Nadia Mustafá, a longtime friend of Arab-West Report, who has in the past given us much space to exchange views with Egyptian students at Cairo University.

Nadia Mustafá decries the hypocrisy of both Salafis and liberals. The Salafis have fought in the 2012 Constitution for Article 4, giving the Azhar a role in legislation, and Article 219, defining the principles of sharī‘ah which caused the Brotherhood to give into unnecessary, unprecedented, and ultimately fear-inducing intimations of a religious state. In the 2014 Constitution, however, they have accepted the removal of these two articles.

Competing with Salafis in hypocrisy are, in Mustafá’s view, the now allied liberals. Early in the transitional period these same liberals bemoaned the extremism of the Salafis and the interference of their Saudi Arabian backers. Now, they speak of the Salafis as possessing political acumen and of the Saudis as important financial backers for Egypt.

Nadia Mustafá has come to hate politics, which is full of vulgarity and devoid of principles. As an idealist, it is this moral failing which pains her most.

It would be wrong to think, however, that there were no idealists in the Constituent Assembly. Many tried to present the points that were important to their own constituencies as eloquently as possible.

Mirvat al-Tallāwī,head of the National Council for Women, fought for recognition of women as citizens with full equality in social, economic, and political rights, which she explains was not done in the 2012 Constitution. The Constitution now describes women as sisters of men and partners in national responsibilities.

For Tallāwī, these clauses were not sufficient given the challenges facing Egyptian women in the realities of discrimination. The State Council, for example, has not appointed a woman judge since 1953, and she described her interactions with President Mursī protesting the removal of women with over 25 years of experience from their positions in various ministries. His comment was that it was not ‘suitable’ to have a woman in such a post.  She thus fought for the formulation of Article 11 that makes clear that women have the right to serve in high government and judicial positions, which actually did meet quite a bit of opposition in the committee – also from members from which this was not expected.

‘Ādil Mājid is the vice-president of the Egyptian Court of Cassation, the nation’s supreme judicial body. He has written three books concerning the place of transitional justice in Egyptian law, sharī‘ah, and standards of implementation in the Arab world.  ‘Ādil Mājid also authored a draft law on transitional justice which, if adopted, would establish an independent, neutral commission composed of three committees. These would be populated by Egypt’s judges, university professors, religious bodies, independent councils, media, NGOs, and revolutionary youth, all selected by their representative institutions. The first committee would address truth and fact-finding, the second accountability and redress, and the third, redress and compensation. It would additionally create a specialized court for transitional justice.

Mājid sought to ground the concept of transitional justice more fully by inclusion in the Egyptian Constitution.  The assembly accepted the principles but left the hard decisions of definition, composition, and methodology to the coming parliament.

Transitional justice in Egypt for many is a sign of hope that the nation will take seriously the process of reforming the state following the Mubārak and Mursī eras.  AWR much hopes that Egypt will take these thoughts seriously.

Jayson Casper has conducted many more interviews that show that many members of the Constituent Assembly indeed do not take their work lightly. Below is a list of the articles reflecting these interviews:

Najīb Abādīr: The Experience of a Reserve Member in the Constitutional Committee

Husām al-Massāh: The Disabled Member of Egypt’s Constitutional Committee

‘Ādil Mājid: Transitional Justice in the Constitution?

Muhammad ‘Abd al-Salām: The Azhar on Religion in Egypt’s Constitution

Muhammad ‘Ablah: A Voice for Culture in the Constitution

Dr. Nadia Mustafá: The Hypocrisy of the Coup and its Constitution

Mirvat al-Tallāwī: Women’s Rights in the Constitution

Placating Salafis for Constitutional Passage?

Cornelis Hulsman

Editor-in-chief, Arab-West Report