CONSTITUTIONAL ADVICE FOR EGYPT

I am not an Egyptian. I have not read all of the new Egyptian constitution. I will give two pieces of advice anyway.

!. VOTE. If you do not vote, you are not participating in your new democracy. When you do not vote, you give an extra vote to the people you oppose.

2. CONSTITUTIONS ARE NEVER PERFECT. Did you know that the US Constitution was ratified without the Bill of Rights, which protects freedom of religion and freedom of speech? The Bill of Rights was not passed until three years later. Many people objected to the lack of protections for civil rights in the original constitution. They passed the constitution anyway because they needed a framework for running the country and waiting until the constitution was perfect was more dangerous than insisting on a Bill of Rights before ratification.

There is a section of the original US Constitution which counts a slave as part of a person for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives. It took over 150 years for all MEN to become equal. (See the new movie Lincoln.) It took another 60 years for WOMEN to get the right to vote in the US.

I think the most important part of our constitution is that it is interpreted by the courts. It is not possible to write constitutions and laws that cover every situation. If your new constitution gives this authority to the courts, you should seriously consider passing it.

Without a constitution, your leaders can do whatever they want. Once there is a constitution, even your leaders have to obey constitutional law.

This is a decision for the people of Egypt, please make it wisely.