President Mohamed Morsi said that he will reshape the Constituent Assembly (CA) if it did not draft the constitution within six months of its formation, expressing hope that the CA should finalize the constitution with a national consensus. During his meeting, on Saturday with a number of popular leaders and Muslim Brotherhood and FJP members in Sharqiya Governorate, Morsi also denied any intention to introduce a Cabinet reshuffle, saying that he was pushing the Cabinet to work with the Freedom and Justice Party to implement the Renaissance Project. [SIS/allAfrica, 10/28/2012]

 

Informed sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm Saturday that Islamist leaders have nominated Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater for the post of People’s Assembly speaker in the next Parliament. Head of the Salafi Dawa in Giza Hesham Abu al-Nasr said small meetings were held with Brotherhood leaders to discuss the formation of a coalition for Islamists to contest the parliamentary elections against the Popular Current, founded by former presidential hopeful Hamdeen Sabbahi. [Egypt Independent, 10/27/2012]

 

Prime Minister Dr. Hisham Qandil has urged the nation to give his government a year to re-activate growth, assuring the people the ministers are sincerely devoted for service of the country. Denying buzzing rumors about government plans to axe payments, Qandil assured the Egyptians that he considered salaries of the public servants "a red line", affirming that the government was keen on maintaining the payments and investments. [SIS/allAfrica, 10/26/2012]

 

Egypt’s government has finalised draft legislation placing more punitive penalties on those caught smuggling subsidised Egyptian petroleum products such as diesel, octane and butane, state-run daily newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Saturday. Al-Ahram, who obtained a copy of the legal document, says the proposed legislation includes amendments to law 95 passed in 1945. According to the draft, anyone who smuggles or attempts to smuggle the petroleum products out of the country will face a 2 to 5 year jail sentence and a fine of between LE150,000 and LE500,000. [Ahram Online, 10/29/2012]

 

The Drafting Committee for the Constituent Assembly has returned to finalizing the draft constitution after the end of Eid celebrations. It will review the System of Governance section for a second time after additional amendments were made by its committee. Dr. Mohammed Mohi Eddin spokesman for the Defense and Security Committee announced the intent to issue the final draft of the new constitution immediately after Eid al-Adha, to be put to a vote in the plenary session headed by Justice Hossam Ghariani by the first week of next month. [Youm7 (Arabic), 10/29/2012]

 

As different political forces begin campaigning for and against the impending constitutional referendum, the Salafi-oriented Jama’a al-Islamiya said it would organize a million-man march to fight for the application of Sharia in the new constitution. In a statement on its Facebook page on Sunday, the group said, “The application of Sharia is the wish of the overwhelming majority of Egyptians.” [Egypt Independent, 10/28/2012]

 

Head of Judges Club, Ahmed El-Zend declared that some articles of the penal code contradict Sharia (Islamic jurisprudence) and therefore should be amended immediately. El-Zend said on a YouTube video by Islamic Iqraa TV channel, "I am sending this message to the Egyptian legislator to save us from this misdeed (with reference to not applying the Sharia in penal code) by designing a Egyptian penal code solely based on Sharia."[Ahram Online, 10/27/2012]

 

 

Egypt’s foreign reserves rose $300-400 million to nearly $15.5 billion in October thanks to loans from Qatar and Turkey, state-run Al-Gomhuria newspaper reported on Monday, quoting an unnamed central bank official. The reserves have fallen by more than half since a popular uprising in January 2011 that scared away tourists and investors, two of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency. [Ahram Online, 10/29/2012]

 

Egypt has secured oil supplies for the rest of the year, despite fears about its ability to make payments, from a small number of Western suppliers who have agreed to deliver unusual grades of crude for hefty premiums, market sources said. The country has been struggling to import oil since the 2011 revolution due to government deficits and resulting constraints on its ability to get credit, stemming largely from the high cost of providing fuel subsidies. [Reuters, 10/29/2012]

 

An International Monetary Fund delegation is set to arrive in Cairo Tuesday to negotiate a US$4.8 billion loan requested by Egypt in August, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Ashraf al-Araby was quoted as saying Monday. State-run newspaper Al-Akhbar quoted Araby as saying that the IMF delegation would meet Prime Minister Hesham Qandil to discuss the terms of the loan, which would be announced after an agreement is reached. Negotiations are expected to take “more than two weeks,” the minister said. [Egypt Independent,EGYNews (Arabic), 10/29/2012]

 

 

A taxi driver was killed and a passenger was injured late Sunday when army officers shot at the car after it ran a checkpoint in the city of Arish, North Sinai. A security source told DPA news agency that prosecution services are investigating the incident. The security situation in Sinai has been tense because of the increased presence of extremist groups in the peninsula since a popular uprising ousted former President Hosni Mubarak on February 2011. [Egypt Independent, 10/29/2012]

 

An initiative called "Shoft Taharosh" (I saw harassment) has monitored harassment during Eid holiday and noted that it reached 60 percent in downtown areas and in front of movie theatres. Security and minister of interior members did not take any action against harassers but attempted to prevent members of the initiative from monitoring and stopping the phenomenon of harassment, the initiative’s first report said on Sunday. The ‘Catch the Harasser’ initiative, recorded 300 attempted attacks during Eid Al-Adha. [Aswat Masriya/allAfrica,Ahram Online, 10/28/2012]

 

The families of the April 8 officers said President Mohamed Morsy deceived them by not releasing their sons before the Eid al-Adha holidays. The officers were arrested for leaving their positions and joining protests in Tahrir following the 25 January revolution. The families said that Morsy has pardoned “thugs” and “terrorists,” but still keeps their sons behind bars. [Egypt Independent, 10/28/2012]

 

Egyptian non-Islamist groups are calling protests beginning 19 November to mark the one-year anniversary of fatal clashes on Cairo’s Mohamed Mahmoud Street. Political groups are calling for five days of commemorations — dubbed ‘Days of Freedom’ — to coincide with the clashes. Among the groups calling for protest are the April 6 Youth Movement (Democratic Front), the National Association for Change and the Egypt Freedom Party. [Ahram Online, 10/29/2012]

 

The Foreign Ministry expressed opposition to the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying that the expansion violates international law and UN resolutions. "Egypt follows up with deep concern the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in East Jerusalem," the ministry’s statement said. "Egypt condemns in this regard the announced position of Israeli officials who lifted restrictions on the construction of settlements in the occupied territories."[Egypt Independent, 10/27/2012]