The Constitutional Content You're Not Hearing About

Courtesy of www.dailynewsegypt.com

Last week, nearly two years after Mubarak's toppling, the first democratically elected congress in Egyptian history has drafted a constitution, hoping to usher in a new civil and democratic era for Egypt. President Mohammed Morsi has signed the constitutional draft and it now must go before the people in a popular referendum.

What has heretofore gone unmentioned in Western media coverage is the environmental language that has been incorporated into the draft. Three articles within the constitution attempt to define, albeit vaguely, the state's role in the protection, assurance, and governance of water resources.

It's been less than a week since the constitutional assembly tasked with writing Egypt's new constitution finished its draft and submitted it for Morsi's signature and a public referendum. The process has manifested intense, emotional responses from both sides: secular parties have protested the draft itself, while Islamist supporters have protested Egypt's highest court's ongoing investigation into the legitimacy of the legislative assembly.

All conflict aside, Islamist parties retain power of the legislative and executive branches of government, and they have broad and vocal support from the electorate, despite the anti-government focus of Western news coverage. Therefore, I think it’s reasonable to take the content of this constitutional draft seriously

Should this legislation stand up to its many critics and become the absolute law of the land, there will be protections afforded to the sacred Nile River that have, to date, never been considered so important to previous Egyptian governments and that may have a considerable impact on the river's future.

So here they are. I've listed three constitutional articles below, one that directly refers to the country's most important resource and two others that address the state's role in its protection.

Article 19

The Nile River and water resources are a national wealth. The State is committed to maintaining and developing them, and preventing abuse. The use of such resources shall be regulated by law.

Article 20

The State shall protect its coasts, seas, waterways and lakes, maintain monuments and nature reserves, and remove any encroachments.

Article 69

All individuals have the right to a healthy environment. The State shall safeguard the environment against pollution, and promote the use of natural resources in a manner that prevents damage to the environment and preserves the rights of future generations.

If you take a look through the previous constitution, adopted under Sadat's rule, you'll find no such language. There is no explicit addressing of the need to "protect" natural resources and it does not afford any public right to a "healthy environment". The mandate handed to the state to "safeguard the environment against pollution" is inspiring and unique to a country of Egypt's impoverished stature and dedication to polluting industries such as petroleum extraction and production.

There are obviously many questions that only time will sort out. The two that are at the forefront of my mind are: will there be substantial domestic regulatory agency reshuffling following the adoption of this new constitution? And, with 25% of Egyptian nationals living below the poverty level and an unemployment rate hovering around 12.5%, will interpretation of Articles 19 and 69 and popular pressure favor substantial or sustainable development?

While Egypt is still in the early stages of the democratic process and the constitutional draft isn't yet final, it's encouraging to see the new Egypt addressing and even attempting to protect what is and will continue to be one of the country's most vital assets.

* A translation of the entire constitutional draft can be found here