As preparations for Christmas celebrations continued, the Coptic Church submitted a detailed memo to the presidency in Egypt about amendments it would like to see made to the new Constitution.

These included deleting Article 219, which states that the "principles of Islamic sharī’ah include comprehensive evidence, fundamental and jurisprudential bases, and credible sources in Sunnī doctrines".

They also included deleting phrases from Article 4 pertaining to the role to be played by the Azhar, including the phrase, "in charge of promoting the Islamic call, religious studies and the Arabic language in Egypt and the world" and replacing it with "in charge of promoting and developing Islamic studies and sciences and defending the moderation and tolerance of Islam around the world".

The phrase "senior the Azhar scholars will be consulted on issues of Islamic sharī’ah" should be deleted and replaced with "senior the Azhar scholars will be consulted on Islamic affairs," the Church said.

Paragraph 2 of Article 81, which states that "these rights and freedoms will be exercised in a manner that does not contradict the rules and principles in the chapter on state and society in this Constitution," should be deleted, as should Article 227, which states, "the Constitution or the law will put a term limit on all tenures that are not renewable or are renewable only once. The term begins on the date of appointment and ends in all cases once its occupant reaches the legal age of retirement for the post". 

Article 230, which states, "the existing Shūrá Council will assume full legislative powers until the new People's Assembly begins sessions, and it is given full legislative powers until a new Shūrá Council is elected within six months of the People's Assembly starting sessions," should be deleted, as should Article 233, which states, "the local administration will continue operating according to existing systems until the gradual application of the system included in this Constitution over the ten years following its ratification."

The articles pertaining to the press and eliminating imprisonment as a penalty for publishing offenses should be amended, the Church said.

The Churches further noted that their proposals for Constitutional Amendments are comprehensive and place the welfare of the country above all personal interests as have been claimed, noting, that the article that sunnah is the providence for all legislations will drag the country into endless fiqh discussions, as it has no clear binding rule (‘Abd al-Wahāb Sha’bān, al-Wafd, Jan. 15, p. 3). Read original text in Arabic.