Egypt: panel charged with drafting new constitution using Jeffersonian model to separate mosque and state....wait, what?

No, not really.  They are getting ready to begin the drafting process, and with 60% of the panel made up of "less than moderate" Muslims you can bet that the end result will be a constitution that little resembles what we think a constitution should be.  With sharia law enshrined as the only source of jurisprudence and Islam the only officially recognized religion the good times are soon upon us.  Except for Christians, Catholics, Jews and any other non-Muslim belief system.

Will the last non-Muslim out the door please turn off the "Vacancy" sign?

From AP/Yahoo March 25 by Hamza Hendawi

Islamists are majority on Egypt constitution panel

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamists have won a sizable majority on a 100-member panel tasked with drafting a new constitution, according to a list of names published Sunday by the country's official news agency. The list reinforces fears by secular and liberal Egyptians that the Islamists dominating parliament will pack the panel with supporters and ignore concerns of other groups.

The new constitution will determine the balance of power between Egypt's previously all-powerful president and parliament, and define the country's future identity, including the role of religion and minority rights.

The constitutional committee will have nearly 60 Islamists in all, including 37 legislators selected Saturday by parliament's two chambers. Half the panel will comprise public figures, also selected by members of parliament.

A handful of Christians and women were selected and there were only a few names from the revolutionary movement behind last year's ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

The announcement of the panel's makeup was followed by the sudden emergence of a public dispute between the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest political group, and the ruling generals who took power following Mubarak's ouster more than a year ago.

The Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, accused the generals of trying to "hinder" the transition to democratic rule. In a statement posted on its website, it also raised concern that presidential elections due in May could be rigged to benefit a "certain candidate" it did not identify.

The party, it added, is studying proposals to field its own candidate, reversing an earlier decision not to do so.

Read it all