Egypt: Islamists walk out of constitutional panel claiming secularists have too much power...wait, what?

Said liberals and "moderate" Muslims, "With the current (panel) make-up...the constitution will be drafted by political Islam..."


The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis (Al-Nour Party) own the majority of seats in the parliament and also hold the majority on the constitution panel.  There is no reason for the new constitution to be like our own, or anything close.  Article one is that sharia is the law of the land, and article two says Islam is the official religion of the state.  This is the current constitution and will not be changed.  


Separation of mosque and state does not exist in Islam.  


From Google News March 27


Egypt secularists pull out of constituent assembly

CAIRO — Liberal and leftist parties have pulled out of a panel drafting Egypt's new constitution, they announced on Tuesday, accusing Islamists of monopolising the process to deliver its post-revolution charter.

The withdrawals from the panel will call its legitimacy into question, pushing the struggle between Islamists and secularists over the issue to crisis point.

"We announce our rejection of the way the constituent assembly was formed," Ahmed Said, the head of the liberal Free Egyptians party, told reporters.

Last week, the Islamist-dominated parliament voted for the panel to be made up of 50 lawmakers from the upper and lower houses of parliament, and 50 public figures.

But liberals argued that such a high proportion of legislators gave Islamists -- who control nearly three quarters of parliament-- too much control of the constitution.

Yep.

They also say that having 50 members of the panel outside parliament gives a false guarantee of balance, as voters are free to chose Islamists outside the legislative body.

"We are talking about the constitution of Egypt, not one for a majority group," Said said during a news conference of key liberal and leftist parties.

With the current make-up, "the constitution will be drafted by political Islam... We refuse to betray the trust of the people," he said.

The popular uprising which toppled president Hosni Mubarak last year paved the way for the formation of dozens of political groups and movements of all political stripes, but it is the Islamists -- the most organised and with a wide network of supporters -- who have gained the most since the revolt.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafist Al-Nur party together went on to dominate both houses of parliament in recent parliamentary elections, sparking fears among secularists and the Coptic minority of restrictions on freedoms.

Ziad Bahaa Eldin, an MP with the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, said members of his party had also withdrawn from the panel, joining several other high-profile liberals and leftists.

"This is not a partisan issue. This is about the future of the country and it is the right of all Egyptians to write their constitution... away from any partisan bias," he told reporters.

Islam is partisan bias; non-Muslims are to be tolerated(occasionally), not integrated.  Just look at some of the current church burnings, the murders of Christians and the deliberate attempts to drive non-Muslims out of cities such as Homs.

Read it all