The rapid developments over the past month have shown that legal and constitutional loopholes have the potential to seriously undermine Egypt’s democratic transition.
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Resources
Legal Framework
Explanations of the legal framework governing the parliamentary elections, constitutional principles, and administration of the November parliamentary elections.
Egypt’s Transition in Crisis: Falling into the Wrong Turkish Model?
03/30/2012 – 9:39 pm
Marina Ottaway and Nathan J. Brown warn that Egypt risks following a Turkish model where the military, backed by other key institutions and secular political parties, acts against Islamist movements.
Midnight for the SCAF’s Cinderella story
03/20/2012 – 3:08 pm
Nathan Brown writes that in the year since Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces drafted and issued its “Constitutional Declaration,” the Egyptian political process has followed no consistent political logic. The revolution has made Egypt a country where nobody (or everybody) is in charge.
Who Will Write the Egyptian Constitution?
03/13/2012 – 4:37 pm
Marina Ottaway writes that quick progress towards a new constitution is extremely unlikely. This means that the new president’s powers will most probably be modified after he is elected, a situation designed to create a new crisis.
The Evolution within the Revolution
02/29/2012 – 3:37 pm
Nathan Brown writes that over the past year, most political attention has focused understandably on the daily drama. But this should not obscure some longer-term evolutionary trends engendered by the revolution that may gradually make the Egyptian state a very different animal than it has been for the past half century.
Egypt’s Judges in a Revolutionary Age
02/22/2012 – 4:07 pm
Nathan Brown writes that the independence of the judiciary—as proposed legislation currently conceives it—may form part of a trend toward balkanizing the Egyptian state in a manner that will provide for a more liberal and pluralistic order but also one that is less coherent and democratic than Egyptians currently realize.
Getting Priorities Right: American NGOs and U.S.-Egypt relations
02/13/2012 – 3:45 pm
Marina Ottaway writes that both the SCAF and the U.S. must keep in mind that the future of bilateral relations is much more important than the future of U.S. NGOs in Egypt.
The SCAF’s NGO gamble
02/13/2012 – 3:19 pm
Yezid Sayigh says that it could be that a floundering SCAF has simply misjudged badly in raising the stakes with the United States so high. But if it has indeed instigated the sudden crisis with the United States in anticipation of a domestic confrontation, then the further, more worrying implication is that it is actively preparing to go on the offensive and trigger one.
Egypt’s Transition: Finding a Way Out of the Vicious Circle
02/06/2012 – 4:35 pm
One year after the Egyptian military forced President Mubarak from office, Egypt is caught in a vicious circle that risks derailing its move toward democracy, leading to more uncertainty and violence.
Court Decision on Presidential Election Law: Road Block or Minor Speed Bump for the Military?
01/24/2012 – 5:25 pm
The Egyptian military’s power to arbitrarily issue future legislation may be curbed by the new parliament, but a recent Supreme Constitutional Court decision will likely serve to protect the military’s interests by legitimizing its existing constitutional declaration.
The SCAF: an Overview of its Actions
01/05/2012 – 9:15 pm
On February 10, 2011, Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) met for the first time without its chairman, former president Hosni Mubarak. It issued a communiqué indicating that Mubarak was preparing to relinquish his powers to the military after eighteen days of massive antigovernment protests. The SCAF’s first statement signaling the power transition [...]
Landmines in Egypt’s Constitutional Roadmap
12/07/2011 – 3:59 pm
Egypt’s protracted series of parliamentary balloting has just begun, but it is not too soon to think about the implications of presidential elections that have yet to be scheduled and which may be a cause deep concern.
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Constitutional Declaration
04/01/2011 – 8:40 pm
On March 30, 2011, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced a provisional constitution that paves the way for parliamentary elections in September.
Next Steps in Egypt’s Transition
03/23/2011 – 1:35 pm
While voter approval of Egypt’s constitutional amendments provides a strong boost to the military-led transition process, Nathan J. Brown writes that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has yet to announce the schedule of elections or clarify the electoral procedures that will govern them.
Overview of Egypt’s Constitutional Referendum
03/16/2011 – 8:19 pm
The constitutional reform committee appointed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced several proposed revisions to Egypt’s constitution on February 26. On March 19, Egyptians will vote in a referendum concerning these amendments.
Egypt’s Draft Constitutional Amendments Answer Some Questions and Raise Others
03/03/2011 – 4:42 pm
While the proposed amendments to Egypt’s constitution meet some of the longstanding demands made by opposition and civil society leaders, Nathan J. Brown and Michele Dunne detail how the amendments also create new uncertainties.
Emergency Law
09/09/2010 – 4:47 pm
The major stipulations of Egypt’s nearly three decades old Emergency Law.