CAIRO - Liberal, secular, and leftist activists yesterday launched into a tirade of accusations against the Islamist forces (the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafists) that enjoy a parliamentary majority, describing these forces as "hegemonic" and "ill intentioned". The activists said the Brotherhood and the Salafists want to monopolise the writing of the first post-revolution Constitution and marginalise all other political forces. "Writing the Constitution should not be the preserve of only one political force," said potential presidential candidate Mamdouh Qotb. "This Constitution must protect the rights of everybody in this country, which is why everybody must take part in writing it," he added. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists emerged beaming earlier in the day after balloting for the members of the panel (Constitutional Assembly [CA]) that will draft the first post-Hosni Mubarak Constitution had been conducted, as the two parties won nearly 60 of the panel's 100 seats. The Brotherhood and Salafists won almost 75 per cent of the 50 seats for lawmakers and also around 40 per cent of the 50 seats for members of public institutions and professionals' unions, as well as public figures. This has increased the fears of other political forces of an Islamist monopoly of the next Constitution, fears originally sparked by the stated positions of the Islamists on important issues, including freedom of faith, freedom of speech and the arts. This is why some people are expecting the fight over the Constitution to grow fiercer in the days to come, with revolutionaries, liberals, secularists and leftists feeling the heat of marginalisation. Some political forces have already announced plans for major protests outside Parliament to demonstrate public anger at the hegemony the Islamists are imposing on the constitutional panel. "The way the Islamist forces formed the panel suggests they want a hegemony, which does not augur well for the future," said potential presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi. "This also shows that these Islamists are not ready to co-operate with the other political forces in Egyptian society," he added. Islamic control of the writing of the Constitution are exaggerated. They say that, when Egyptians vote in their millions in a national referendum that will follow the writing of the Constitution, they can vote ‘No', if they do not like the document that will be produced by the Islamist-dominated panel.
