Egypt's draft constitution enshrines army role in politics

Egypt's new constitution, according to a draft text completed on Saturday nearly five months after the army deposed an Islamist president, will bolster the military's hand and ban religious parties.

The constitution, expected to be put to a referendum in December, is part of an army-planned political transition meant to lead to parliamentary and presidential elections next year.

"In the early hours of the morning the assembly (reached) an overall consensus over the constitution articles," its chairman, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, told a news conference.

The 50-member constituent assembly later began voting to approve the draft, article by article, and once this process is complete it will submit the document to interim President Adli Mansour, who will set a date for the referendum.

The final draft, seen by Reuters, does away with the Islamist-inspired additions that featured in the constitution approved by a referendum during Morsi's year in office.

From JPost.com - Headlines