by Lady Michelle-Jennifer Santos, Founder & Publisher

November 22, 2012 (TSR) –  In a surprise inappropriate expansion of powers, Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday, issued a new Constitutional Declaration with several decrees to safeguard its “revolutionary” future.

The declaration began by stating that the January 25 Revolution had mandated the president with the responsibility to achieve revolutionary demands and to root out remnants of the old regime from Egypt’s state institutions. In a nutshell, the new declaration aims at destroying the old regime’ s framework, and annihilating corruption in the country and the society, as well as purging the national machines out of the remainder of the “ruined regime,” in order to protect the people and the country, and achieve the societal justness.

It also includes a ruling that none of his decisions can be overturned by any authority and that no authority may dissolve the Shura Council, the upper house of Egypt’s parliament. Morsi also decreed that all laws, decrees and constitutional declarations issued by the president since coming to office on June 30, 2012 from the time of his inauguration until a new parliament is elected, are final and unchallengeable by any body, including the judiciary.

Speaking of the Constitutional Assembly, the declaration noted that the new draft constitution will be formed within a maximum period of eight months, instead of six, from the date of assembly’ s formation, which means the new declaration extended the period of drafting for another two months, until February, 2013, ruling also that no authority may dissolve it until the country’s defining document is completed.  The Constituent Assembly was previously scheduled to present a final draft of the country’s national charter by December 5.

Talat Ibrahim Abdullah, a member of the judiciary, was appointed by Morsi as new prosecutor general for four years, to replace current prosecutor general Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud, following the new constitutional declaration, stipulating that the presidential decree is entitled to appoint a prosecutor general for a four-year term among the members of the judiciary.

In light of the sweeping powers, Egyptian opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei accused Morsi of behaving like a “new pharaoh.”

The fate of the country stands on uncertain grounds since Arabspring.

In September, Egypt’s high administrative court upheld a controversial June ruling to dissolve the country’s parliament. The move was opposed by Morsi, whose Freedom and Justice Party  (FJP) won more seats in the 2011-2012 parliamentary elections than any other faction.

Morsi threatened to override the move – which was instituted by the country’s military rulers and the Supreme Court of Egypt – once he took office. In July he reversed his position, saying he would respect the court’s decision that the parliament be dissolved.

A court suspended the country’s first 100-member Constituent Assembly in April for being “unrepresentative of Egyptians.” The Supreme Administrative Court then dissolved it for containing members of parliament. The court said MPs who were responsible for electing members of the body were not supposed to be serving on it, thus making it unconstitutional.

The current Constituent Assembly – elected in June – also contains members of parliament in contravention to the March 2011 Constitutional Decree. While the country’s military rulers have so far left it in tact, its legal status is equally dubious.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which ruled the country for a transition period after toppling former president Hosni Mubarak, issued a supplementary constitutional declaration on June 17 to fix the powers and tasks of state institutions and the armed forces until approving the new constitution.

However, democratically elected president Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration on Aug. 12, and cancelled this declaration issued by the army.

 

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The Santos Republic is providing our readers a non-official judicial translation version of Thursday’s Constitutional Declaration in order to understand how Egypt is now democratically hijacked.

We have decided the following:

Article I

Reopen the investigations and prosecutions in the cases of the murder, the attempted murder and the wounding of protesters as well as the crimes of terror committed against the revolutionaries by anyone who held a political or executive position under the former regime, according to the Law of the Protection of the Revolution and other laws.

Article II:

Previous constitutional declarations, laws, and decrees made by the president since he took office on 30 June 2012, until the constitution is approved and a new People’s Assembly [lower house of parliament] is elected, are final and binding and cannot be appealed by any way or to any entity. Nor shall they be suspended or canceled and all lawsuits related to them and brought before any judicial body against these decisions are annulled.

Article III:

The prosecutor-general is to be appointed from among the members of the judiciary by the President of the Republic for a period of four years commencing from the date of office and is subject to the general conditions of being appointed as a judge and should not be under the age of 40. This provision applies to the one currently holding the position with immediate effect.

Article IV:

The text of the article on the formation of the Constituent Assembly in the 30 March 2011 Constitutional Declaration that reads, “it shall prepare a draft of a new constitution in a period of six months from the date it was formed” is to be amended to “it shall prepare the draft of a new constitution for the country no later than eight months from the date of its formation.”

 Article V:

No judicial body can dissolve the Shura Council [upper house of parliament] or the Constituent Assembly.

 Article VI:

The President may take the necessary actions and measures to protect the country and the goals of the revolution.

Article VII:

This Constitutional Declaration is valid from the date of its publication in the official gazette.

 

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