Egypt Shura Council to Allow Religious Slogans in Electoral Campaigns
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AILY EWS TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 N D ISSUE NO. 2166 NEWSTAND PRICE LE 4.00 EGYPT www.thedailynewsegypt.com Egypt’s Only Daily Independent Newspaper In English EGYPT CRITICISES MYANMAR GOVT A SUMMONS FOR SARCASM DOWNTOWN GETS D-CAF-INATED Foreign Ministry calls on Myanmar Comedian Ali Qandil has been The Downtown Contemporary government to enforce rule of law summoned by the prosecutor Arts Festival offering art exhibits, and protect Muslim minority general for blasphemy charges workshops and more kicks off 2 3 on 6 April 8 SLA denies appealing Shura Council to allow religious prosecutor general verdict slogans in electoral campaigns Tala’at Abdallah denies devolving powers to assistant, says he is still prosecutor general UPPER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT PASSED NINE ARTICLES FROM POLITICAL By Ahmed Aboul Enein The court refused Mahmoud’s re- quest, however, but he has decided to PARTICIPATION BILL THAT GOVERNS ELECTIONS President Mohamed Morsi has not appeal the refusal, state-owned news asked the State Litigation Authority agency MENA reported on Monday. By Ahmed Aboul Enein (SLA) to appeal the court verdict Meanwhile, Abdallah denied on overturning Prosecutor General Sunday night claims that he had del- Shura Council members passed nine Tala’at Abdallah’s appointment. egated his authority as prosecutor articles from the political participa- SLA Assistant Secretary General general to Assistant Prosecutor Gen- tion bill. The articles govern the right Abdel Salam Mahmoud said on Mon- eral Hassan Yassin in order to uphold to vote, how Egyptians abroad vote, day that no presidency officials had the Cairo Court of Appeals verdict and membership of the committee requested an appeal and that no one reversing his appointment. running elections. had the right to appeal but the au- “Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdal- The council had agreed to the thority itself, which is an independent lah is performing his full duties and government-drafted bill in prin- judicial body. everything at the public prosecution ciple last week before referring it “The verdict is still under review by is functioning properly,” his spokes- to its Legislative and Constitutional the technical office of the State Liti- person said in a statement released Affairs Committee for review and gation Authority. We will announce it on Sunday night. amendments. ourselves when we come to a deci- Abdallah received a delegation of One of the edits that was voted sion regarding whether or not to ap- lawyers displaying their support for into law in the Monday session was peal,” Mahmoud said in a statement. him on Sunday evening, including Salafi the addition of General Intelligence Former prosecutor general Ab- lawyer and former member of parlia- Service Directorate staff to the list del Meguid Mahmoud officially re- ment Mamdouh Ismail. of people banned from voting in ad- quested the Cairo Court of Appeals, “I will not fail you, I will not fail the dition to the already banned police which ruled to reinstate him and Egyptian people, and I will not stray and military personnel. reversed Abdallah’s appointment, from the path of the law,” Abdallah Another passed article included draft a verdict application report told his supporters. a list of crimes that would mean describing how exactly the court Ismail told Abdallah that “responsi- convicted citizens lose their right to envisions its verdict should be car- bility for Egypt lies in [his] hands”, and vote. Citizens who are incarcerated AFP Photo ried out, and attach it to the official that he need not give in to political due to a mental illness will not be Two Egyptian women walking by a billboard featuring Islamic candidates using religious slogans in April 2012. The verdict memo. pressures because “God is with you”. able to vote. ban on the use of similar slogans in elections is being debated in the Shura Council Shura members added a clause permitting the introduction of elec- The Legislative and Constitu- wing the Freedom and Justice Party crimination should suffice and that tronic voting in future elections, al- tional Affairs Committee voted on controls a majority of Shura Council religious slogans should not be Iran minister denies though it will not apply to the up- Sunday to remove a clause from seats, to legalise its long-time slogan banned since Article 2 of the con- coming parliamentary elections for Article 10 of the law banning re- “Islam is the solution”. stitution, which states that Islam is the House of Representatives. ligious slogans in campaigning, in- Muslim Brotherhood member the state religion and Sharia is the interference in Egypt Parliamentarians debated the leg- stead limiting the ban to campaigns and Legislative and Constitutional principle source of legislation, consti- islative committee’s decision to lift a that discriminate based on religion, Affairs Committee advisor Sobhi tutionally protects their usage. longstanding ban on the use of reli- gender, or ethnic origin. Saleh denied claims that “Islam is At the time of print Shura Coun- gious slogans in election campaigns, Opposition representatives saw the solution” discriminated be- cil members had voted the bill’s first but had not yet voted on the amend- the move as an attempt by the Mus- tween members of society. nine articles into law and were still ment at the time of print. lim Brotherhood, whose political Saleh added that the ban on dis- debating Article 10. Morsi’s initiative for women discusses sexual harassment National Centre for Social and Criminal Research holds first discussion on Morsi’s initiative for women By Nouran El-Behairy “These discussions are only for the sake of discussion or to come up with Ministry Foreign handout Under the auspices of President Mo- more ideas on women’s issues,” Abo Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr with Iran’s Deputy Minister hamed Morsi, the National Centre for El-Ela said. of Foreign Affairs for the Middle East Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday Social and Criminal Research (NC- The NCW was asked by the cabi- SCR) held the first group discussion ti- net to prepare an anti-harassment By Joel Gulhane Morsi’s office denied that such a let- tled “Sexual harassment: Between law law; the legislative committee of the ter was ever received. and social confrontation” on Monday. council delivered it to the cabinet on Iran’s Deputy Minister of Foreign During his visit to Cairo, Amir-Ab- The discussion is one of the initia- 17 March. Affairs for the Middle East, Hossein dollahian also met with United Na- tive’s activities meant to support the Morsi had launched the initiative Amir-Abdollahian, denied that his tions and Arab League Special Envoy rights and freedoms of Egyptian wom- on 24 March to help improve the lives country has any intention of interfer- Lakhdar Brahimi. “The visit to Cairo en that President Morsi had called for of Egyptian women in rural and ur- ing in Egyptian affairs. was aimed at consulting with Egyptian earlier in March. NCSR handout ban areas and identify the challenges At a press conference held in Cai- officials and some regional figures,” “The initiative aims to support The National Centre for Social and Criminal Research (NCSCR) held the first group facing women in Egypt. On 26 March ro on Monday, Amir-Abdollahian said he said, according to MENA. Amir- Egyptian women, respect their choices discussion titled “Sexual harassment: Between law and social confrontation” Morsi addressed the Arab League call- that Iran does not have any sectar- Abdollahian also met with Kamel Amr and preserve their accomplishments,” ing to designate 2013 as a special year ian interests in any aspect of Egypt’s and Secretary General of the Arab said NCSCR Director Nesreen El- El-Boghdady said the centre will main specialisation,” said Abeer Abo for women; he invited the attendees internal affairs, reported state-owned League Nabil El-Araby on Sunday. Boghdady in her opening statement. use tools like discussion groups, sur- El-Ela, head of NCW’s media office. to a conference on women’s rights news agency MENA. Kamel Amr stressed “the impor- The centre specified six key issues veys, interviews and field research to She added that the NCW represents later this year in Cairo. Amir-Abdollahian denied reports tance of achieving the aspirations of that affect women in Egypt: sexual study these issues, noting that the Egyptian women locally and interna- The initiative was criticised by many that Iran is attempting to interfere the Syrian people” to Amir-Abdolla- harassment, political, social and eco- centre is a scientific authority rather tionally and that their leadership could women’s rights groups like Fouda in Egyptian mosques. He described hian on Sunday. Iran has backed the nomic rights, the image of women in than an executive one. have given the initiative more weight. Watch, who said the initiative was far these accusations as false, fabricated, Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad and media and a suggestion to establish a “The National Council for Women The director of the social research de- from the “painful reality” of Egyptian and an attempt at provoking Iran. his regime since the Syrian conflict national network of all NGOs work- (NCW) should have been the one partment of the NCW represented the women and accused the president of In February the Egyptian Min- began. Last week, Amir-Abdollahian ing on women issues. hosting this discussion, for it’s our council in Monday’s discussion. undermining women. istry of Foreign Affairs clarified criticised the Arab League decision to the relationship between the two grant the Syrian opposition the Syrian countries. Minister of Foreign Af- seat at the recent Arab League Summit Egyptian Stock Exchange fairs Mohamed Kamel Amr said that in Doha.