埃及委員會批准憲法草案

An Islamist-dominated panel has approved Egypt's new draft constitution that must now be voted on in a nationwide referendum.

The panel, boycotted by several Christian and liberal members, has retained the principles of Islamic law as the main source of legislation. The group hastily rushed through the approval of the 234 articles in a meeting that lasted from Thursday afternoon until early Friday.

The assembly moved up the vote in order to pass the draft before Sunday, when Egypt's highest judicial power is expected to rule on whether to dissolve the panel.

Over the past few days, about 30 liberal and Christian members pulled out of the panel to protest what they called the hijacking of the process by Islamists loyal to President Mohamed Morsi.

The Egyptian leader caused a political uproar last week when he granted himself sweeping new powers. Mr. Morsi told state television Thursday the decree will end immediately after people vote on the constitution.

Egyptians angered by the president's power grab have protested for more than a week. Two people have been killed and hundreds injured in the nationwide demonstrations.由伊斯蘭主義者主導的委員會已經批准了埃及的新憲法草案，這一草案現在必須交付全民公決。

這個委員會遭到幾名基督徒和自由派成員的抵制，但委員會仍把伊斯蘭法規的原則作爲主要立法來源。該委員會從星期四下午開始舉行會議，會議持續到星期五凌晨，匆忙批准了憲法草案的234項條文。

該委員會將憲法草案表決日期提前，以便在埃及最高憲法法院預期週日裁定是否解散該委員會之前通過憲法草案。

在過去幾天中，大約30名自由派人士和基督教成員退出了憲法起草委員會，以抗議他們所說的效忠於埃及總統穆爾西的伊斯蘭主義者強行操縱憲法起草過程。

埃及總統穆爾西上星期頒發政令，賦予自己廣泛的新權力，因而引發了國內政治動盪局勢。穆爾西星期四接受埃及國家電視臺採訪時說，選民就新憲法投票後，他頒佈的政令將立即失效。

穆爾西總統的擴權政令引發了埃及民衆持續一個多星期的抗議。在全國範圍的示威活動中，兩人被打死，數百人受傷。