Khaled Ali Writes: 20 Points in New Constitution That Assassinate Social Justice

Human rights lawyer & ex-presidential candidate , Khaled Ali of ECESR writes about the constitutional draft, set to voted upon on Dec 15th in a public referendum to be held as the new, post-revolution Constitution , and why he, as many of the Egyptian people, thinks it’s an absolute sham and a huge disappointment to what was hoped to a representative of the Egyptian people hopes and dreams in a better life in a country that witnessed such an eventful uprising, which the main demand of it was social justice

follows is Mr.Ali’s summery of the cardinal points that he thinks that the constituent assembly entrusted with translating the hopes of the Egyptian people has pummeled such hopes for true social justice:

1. Draft phraseology & wording concerning social justice were vague, with no specific obligations on the state
2. Draft allows foreign ownership of Egyptian land
3. Draft did not set a maximum limit on the ownership of agricultural or  desert land
4. Draft circumvents setting minimum pension and  maximum wage, eases evasion of their implementation
5. Draft does not have a maximum wage for the President, the Prime Minister and members of the Government
6. Draft reduces the parliamentary oversight of the natural resources and management of state property
7. Draft opens the door to the possibility of privatization of the Nile River  and irrigation water
8. Draft allows privatization of beaches, lakes, waterways, islands and shore lines
9. Draft allows for expropriation of citizens property by administrative decisions, without judicial rulings
10. Draft reduces percentage of workers in boards of public sector entities from half to quarter
11. Draft restricts freedoms of trade unions, student and cooperative entities
12. Draft does not genuinely guarantee the right to education
13. Draft does not protect the right to health and medical treatment
14. Draft does not guarantee the right to work, allows forced labor and opens the door for expansion in layoffs of employees and workers
15. Draft did not provide pension for farmers to ensure a decent living
16. Draft does not guarantee the right to adequate housing, subsidized energy, clean water and healthy food
17. Draft allows for child labor
18. Draft installs socio-economic mock council
19. Draft permits  Military trials for civilians and civilian employees of the armed forces facilities
20. Draft allows for sign offs on foreign loans and financial commitments with no community debate