Egypt’s contentious new constitution becomes law

Reuters/CairoEgyptian President Mohamed Mursi signed into law a new constitution shaped by his Islamist allies, a bitterly contested document which he insists will help end political turmoil and allow him to focus on fixing the economy. Anxiety about a deepening political and economic crisis has gripped Egypt in past weeks, with many people rushing to buy dollars and withdraw their savings from banks. The Egyptian pound tumbled yesterday to its weakest level against the US currency in almost eight years. The new constitution, which the liberal opposition says betrays Egypt’s 2011 revolution by dangerously mixing religion and politics, has polarised the Arab world’s most populous nation and prompted occasionally violent protest on the streets. The presidency said yesterday that Mursi had formally approved the constitution the previous evening, shortly after results showed that Egyptians had backed it in a referendum. The text won about 64% of the vote, paving the way for a new parliamentary election in about two months. The charter states that the principles of Shariah are the main source of legislation and that Islamic authorities will be consulted on Shariah . The referendum result marked yet another electoral victory for the Islamists since veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011, following parliamentary elections last year and the presidential vote that brought Mursi to power this year. Mursi’s government, which has accused opponents of damaging the economy by prolonging political upheaval, now faces the tough task of building a broad consensus as it prepares to impose austerity measures. The atmosphere of crisis deepened this week after the Standard & Poor’s agency downgraded Egypt’s long-term credit rating and warned of a possible further cut. The government has imposed currency restrictions to reduce capital flight. The pound traded as low as 6.1775 against the dollar yesterday, close to its all-time low of 6.26 hit on October 14, 2004, on concerns that the government might devalue or tighten restrictions on currency movements. “All customers are rushing to buy dollars after the downgrading,” said a dealer at a Cairo-based bank. In Cairo’s bustling centre, people openly expressed their frustration with economic instability as they went about their daily business. “The country’s going to the pits. Everything is a mess,” Hamdy Hussein, a 61-year-old building janitor, said angrily. “It’s worse than ever. Mubarak was better than now. People were living and there was security.”  Ashraf Mohamed Kamal, 30, added: “The economic situation will be a mess in the next few years. It already is. People will get hungrier. People are now begging more.”