Egypt panel to vote on new constitution

A panel boycotted by liberals and Christians will start voting Thursday on a draft Egyptian constitution at the heart of an escalating power struggle between the Islamist president and his opposition. The vote comes amid accusations the Islamist-dominated panel is railroading the charter and as protests mount over President Mohamed Morsi's assumption of sweeping powers, which has plunged the country into its worse crisis since he took office in June. Essam al-Erian, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member and advisor to Morsi, said the panel should wrap up any outstanding issues "and begin voting today (Thursday)" on the charter. The draft constitution will then be sent to Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader, who, if he is satisfied with the text, may call a referendum to ratify it within two weeks. A court had disbanded a previous constituent assembly and was due to rule on the validity of its replacement on December 2. Liberals and representatives of Christian churches had already withdrawn from the panel. Morsi last week stripped courts of the power to disband the panel in a decree that gave him broad powers which cannot be challenged by courts, sparking a judicial strike and largest opposition rallies since his June election. The official Al-Ahram newspaper reported that Morsi would give an address at 1700 GMT Thursday, in which he is expected to defend his decree. The president insisted in a magazine interview Wednesday that he will surrender his controversial new powers once a new constitution is in place, hoping to assuage the growing anger two years after a democratic uprising overthrew president Hosni Mubarak. "If we had a constitution, then all of what I have said or done last week will stop," he told Time magazine. "I hope, when we have a constitution, what I have issued will stop immediately," he added. The Islamist leader just last week gave the constituent assembly an additional two months to complete its work. But as the top court went on strike over his power grab, the panel wrapped up its deliberations and readied for a vote among its members. The head of the panel, Hossam al-Gheriani, urged the liberal, leftist and Coptic Christian members who walked out to "come back and finish the discussion on Thursday". Human rights groups have criticised the move to rush through the constitution. "This is not a healthy moment to be pushing through a constitution because this is an extremely divisive moment," Human Rights Watch Egypt director Heba Morayef told AFP. "Human rights groups have very serious concerns about some of the rights protections in the latest drafts we've seen," she said. Morsi's controversial decree has seen protesters flock back to Cairo's Tahrir Square, epicentre of the protest movement that toppled Mubarak in February 2011. Tens of thousands protested in the square on Tuesday, in the largest opposition rally since Morsi's election in June. The Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist allies have called their own protest in Tahrir for Saturday. Morsi's decree also helped consolidate the long-divided opposition, with former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei and ex-Arab League chief Amr Mussa uniting with former presidential candidates in the face of Morsi and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, on whose ticket the president ran for office. reminiscent The Brotherhood and the secular-leaning opposition had stood side by side in Tahrir Square in 2011 as they fought to bring down veteran strongman Mubarak and his regime. But since Mubarak's ousting, the Islamist movement has been accused of monopolising politics and backtracking on a promise not to field a candidate for the presidency. US officials said Washington was closely following the drama unfolding in Egypt, with a warning that Cairo could put vast amounts of international aid at stake if it veers off the democratic course. But the International Monetary Fund has said that Egypt can still access a $4.8 billion loan agreed last week as long as there is "no major change" in its reform commitments.