The ruling NDP mobilised members in the face of opposition calls to boycott Monday's referendum, reports Gamal Essam El-Din The two-week campaign by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in support of the 34 constitutional amendments called for by President Hosni Mubarak last December reached a climax this week as the party attempted to mobilise its two million members to vote on Monday in favour of the changes. The NDP's campaign came in response to opposition calls to boycott the referendum. Leftist, liberal and Islamist forces joined together to argue the amendments represented a setback to democracy by reducing judicial oversight of elections, as well as violating the freedoms and rights of citizens. Monday's referendum followed the People's Assembly's 19 March approval of the 34 amendments. The tight timetable made opposition groups even more determined to boycott the vote. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticised "the abbreviated" timetable for the referendum before arriving in Egypt on Sunday. After meeting President Mubarak, however, she toned down her criticisms, saying "the process of reform is one that is difficult and is going to have its ups and downs". The NDP's campaign opened last Saturday when President Mubarak told an NDP conference in the governorate of Assiut that the amendments would widen democracy and combat terrorist threats. Mubarak called on all Egyptians to actively participate by voting. "Every citizen should know that he is freely allowed to vote for or against the constitutional amendments," Mubarak told delegates, adding that, "the final word on constitutional amendments will be left to voters." The result of the referendum, he argued, would determine the future of Egypt for many years to come. It was, he said, "a critical stage in the full flowering of Egyptian democracy". "I have been aware of continuing attempts to cause divisions between Muslims and Copts and have learned the dangers of mixing religion with politics and politics with religions. The constitutional amendments will prevent any trade in religion and thwart attempts to disrupt the unity of this country," Mubarak told the conference. Concerning the controversial amendment of Article 179 promulgating a new anti-terror law, Mubarak emphasised that, "the security and stability of Egypt and the safety of its citizens are a red line I will not allow anyone to cross." NDP officials hailed Mubarak's speech as a central plank in their campaign to rally the public behind the amendments. The campaign itself was run from the NDP's Cairo headquarters and was orchestrated by some of the party's most prominent officials, among them Gamal Mubarak, businessman Ahmed Ezz, the NDP's secretary for organisational affairs, Alieddin Hilal, NDP secretary for information, and Mohamed Kamal, the party's secretary for indoctrination affairs. The chairmen of the party's provincial offices were tasked with implementing the campaign in Egypt's 26 governorates while campaign headquarters directed NDP MPs to liaise with local officials to mobilise members of the party and employees of state authorities to vote. On the day of the referendum a constant stream of reports detailing the progress of voting were collated in Cairo, where the campaign headwaters were also responsible for monitoring international coverage of the poll. Party leaders were particularly keen to get their message across to foreign correspondents. At a meeting chaired by Gamal Mubarak and Ezz on Sunday, representatives of the international press were told that the poll was an important milestone along the path to democracy. "We aim to convince 25 per cent of the electorate to vote," Gamal Mubarak told the assembled journalists, though he conceded the campaign team had faced "a very difficult challenge in getting people to the polls." "Apathy represents a difficult challenge to our political life," Gamal Mubarak told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We do our best to convince voters that sitting at home will not promote a democratic process and we try to leave nothing to chance. We keep working on mobilising voters and nothing is taken for granted." Mubarak insisted, "there is no link between the amendments and the dissolving of parliament. There is no intention to dissolve parliament following the referendum." On controversial Article 88, Mubarak argued it would guarantee the integrity of elections. "The amendment of the article is not the end of the story," he said, adding that, "a committee will be established to work out the details of implementing the article." He responded to opposition objections to Article 179, which establishes anti-terror legislation, by saying that, "a very delicate line must be drawn between public freedoms and the anti-terror law [which] will include guarantees to prevent any abuse of the powers granted to the police by virtue of the article". Addressing foreign correspondents, Ezz said that, "we want to show that large numbers say yes to the amendments and that the vote is clean even if it is not conducted under full judicial supervision."
