■ Process Issues

Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on Saturday made known its intentions to form a committee to draft a declaration of core constitutional principles to govern the constitution making process.

Participants to Egypt's National Dialogue Conference have called for a new constitution to be drafted by a constituent assembly before parliamentary and presidential elections are held, (Daily News Egypt). Opening the conference, which took place over the weekend in Cairo, Interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf spoke of a “bright” future [for Egypt] and promised that the role of the government will be to facilitate the process (Ahramonline). Participants to the conference were representatives from various political streams, professional syndicates and civil society organizations, although the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and representatives of other religious streams chose to boycott the event. The question on whether or not to hold elections before drafting a new constitution is becoming a major issue as Egypt struggles to carve a new political future, following the revolutions that brought down the Mubarak regime in February this year. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for September this year, to be followed by presidential polls around October or November. The Muslim Brotherhood has indicated its preference for elections to be held before a new constitution is drafted, while leading opposition figures and presidential hopefuls, Mohammed Elbaradei and Amr Moussa, who oppose this position, are increasing their calls for a new constitution before elections.

Nepal’s Prime Minister, Mohan Adhikary, on May 10 announced that government is working hard to ensure that the May 28, deadline for producing the draft constitution is respected. The statement comes amidst reports in India’s Daily News and Analyses and Nepal’s The Himalayan Times that the May 28 deadline may also not be met, thereby, triggering an extension of the mandate of the Constituent Assembly, which had earlier failed to meet a May 5 deadline for producing the draft. On May 8, The Kathmandu Post reported that there is growing popular disillusionment with the political class across Nepal for how it has managed the constitutional process to date. Nepal has been undergoing a transition since a popular revolution replaced the Monarchy with a Republic in 2006.