The Constitution in "Quotes"

“What they’re asking cannot be done,” one senior Egyptian official said, citing clauses in the Egyptian Constitution that bar the vice president from assuming power. Under the Constitution, the speaker of Parliament would succeed the president. “That’s my technical answer,” the official added. “My political answer is they should mind their own business.”

The New York Times, February 3, 2011, on reports that the Obama administration is pushing Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak (left) to relinquish the presidency to Vice President Omar Suleiman (right).