The Constitutional Assembly had a landmark opportunity to lay the groundwork for representing human rights in tomorrow’s Egypt, but its current draft fails to meet that standard because of vague language or limitations that destroy the essence of many rights. The “draft of the new constitution” has also deepened the conflict between the Islamists and the varieties of Liberal and Leftist forces in the country. The political landscape is as polarized as ever: we have the Islamists who are accused of not being able rule a country that needs to pass a difficult and messy transitional phase. We have also the Liberals and Leftist groups who are accused of lacking the ability to organize and therefore the capacity to rule.
At first sight one observes that the text lacks the legal precision and the rigor that entails of a constitution, given the fact that constitutional language is fundamentally different from legal, political or, for that matter, any ordinary language.