Egypt

Justice minister: Constitutional declaration crisis ‘about to be resolved’

Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky said that the political crisis over the president’s recent constitutional declaration will be resolved after the meeting between President Mohamed Morsy and the Supreme Judicial Council.

He also said that he believed the president would back the Supreme Judicial Council's proposal limiting the scope of his new constitutional declaration, according to a report in MENA, saying, "I believe [the president] wants that."

The council issued a statement Sunday saying that Morsy's decree should reply only to "sovereign matters," while stopping short of an outright rejection. 

Mekky added that President Mohamed Morsy hopes to establish the rule of law, and said that the current conflicts would subside once all parties met.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting for Arab justice ministers in Cairo, Mekky told reporters that he approves of the Supreme Judicial Council’s statement denouncing the declaration, reflecting the uneasy stance he has taken by criticizing the declaration while supporting the president.

He stressed that Morsy wants to finish establishing state institutions, and claimed that unspecified forces are hindering the process.

“Regarding construction of a new state, we have to face some articles that were based on the former regime. There seems to be desire for retaliation,” Mekky said. 

Mekky also addressed calls for protests Tuesday.

“I have no [relationships] with political talks. There’s an atmosphere of distrust between the two groups,” he said. “It’s about intentions, not procedures.”

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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