This guy again. The one who interrupted parliamentary proceedings by shouting the call to prayer, and inserted a vow to abide by Allah’s law in his oath of office. He is becoming a sideshow act, but at the same time, his attitudes and behavior are all too emblematic of a larger trend in Egyptian society.
And, after all, he was elected. The success of a democracy in upholding and defending civil rights and human liberties depends on the values that inform participants. “‘Consensus not necessary when drafting constitutions,’ says Mamdouh Ismail,” from Bikya Masr, March 3 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
CAIRO: MP Mamdouh Ismail of the ultra-conservative Salafist Asala party stressed that Egypt’s new constitution should reflect an Islamic identity.
He did so today, Saturday, in the first joint session of Egypt’s newly-elected upper and lower houses.
He also said that a consensus in not necessary when drafting constitutions.
Ismail is known for having shouted the call to prayer in the middle of the lower house’s inaugural session, earlier this year, which did not go over well.