President Hosni Mubarak has surprised observers by announcing he has no objections to Article 76 of the constitution being re-amended, reports Gamal Essam El-Din President Hosni Mubarak surprised observers on Monday by announcing that he believes there is a need for Article 76 of the constitution to be re-amended. Mubarak's remarks were made during his annual meeting with deputies from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) ahead of the new parliamentary session which opens on Wednesday. During the two-hour meeting Mubarak said he had no objections to Article 76 being changed so that "parties can have greater chance of running in presidential elections". That Mubarak did not outline the nature of what changes are being contemplated left opposition leaders apprehensive. "Last year," Rifaat El-Said, chairman of the leftist Tagammu Party, told Al-Ahram Weekly, "NDP officials did not listen to the opposition when they were working out the details of the first amendment of Article 76 and we are worried that the same pattern will be repeated, that any new amendment would be a rerun of the last fiasco." Following Mubarak's meeting People's Assembly speaker Fathi Sorour said "2007 will be the year of constitutional amendments which will also include Article 76 in order that political parties can participate more forcefully in presidential elections." During the meeting President Mubarak also briefed NDP MPs on a number of domestic and foreign issues, said presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad, telling MPs that he is wholeheartedly in favour of a public debate on the forthcoming constitutional amendments. In addition Mubarak explained that "the next parliamentary session is important not only for the pipeline of constitutional amendments but for its extensive legislative agenda." On Sunday Mubarak met with Justice Minister Mamdouh Marie to discuss the 2006-2007 legislative agenda which includes a raft of economic and political laws promised in his 2005 presidential manifesto. Awwad said NDP MPs were relieved to hear Mubarak dismiss rumours that there were plans to dismiss the Assembly before it had completed a full five-year term following a spate of Court of Cassation rulings upholding allegations of electoral fraud in a large number of constituencies. They were also delighted when he ordered Muslim deputies to provide five pilgrimage visas annually to constituents who could not otherwise afford them. The quota was phased out six years ago after an NDP MP was found guilty of selling such visas. Senior members of the NDP heaped praise on the decision to further revise Article 76. Mohamed Ragab, a senior member of NDP's Secretariat General and the party's spokesman in the Shura Council, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "the re-amendment of Article 76 clearly shows that President Mubarak is not grooming his son to take over". "I think we are about to see some 15 to 20 articles of the constitution amended in the forthcoming parliamentary session," Ragab said, citing this as proof of the party's commitment to political reform. The amendments, he added, will deal with the legislative, judicial and executive branches, with municipal councils and presidential powers. During the NDP's recent annual conference Moufid Shehab, minister of state for parliamentary and legal affairs, has indicated that while "a total change of the constitution is not an option at present amending several articles to keep up with the times is essential". Sources within the NDP suggest the amendments will include Article 74, dealing with presidential prerogatives, and articles 116, 117 and 118, which govern the supervisory role of the Assembly over the state budget. Articles 1, 4, 23, 24, 30, 32 and 37, all of which cite socialism as the basis for Egypt's economic organisation, are likely to be changed, as are articles 156, 163 and 164, which deal with the balance of authority between local and national government. Articles 173 and 179, creating the office of the Socialist Prosecutor-General and the Higher Judicial Council, are expected to be repealed. More details of constitutional changes are expected in Mubarak's speech before a combined session of the People's Assembly and Shura Council scheduled for 19 November. While the opposition agrees that change is necessary they are far from convinced that it will be the right kind of change. "The lesson we were taught from the first amendment of Article 76 last year is that with the NDP the devil is always in the details," says El-Said, who finds it worrying that Mubarak remained silent over Article 77 which states that the president of the republic may be re-elected for an indefinite number of terms. "Without amending Article 77 to restrict presidential terms to five years, of which no one should serve more than two, political reform in Egypt will always be a lame duck," he believes. Wafdist MP Mohamed Abdel-Alim expressed concern that Sorour and Shehab be entrusted with the drafting of amendments. "It is a bad omen that Sorour and Shehab are involved in this process since all their legislative experience has been in tailoring laws to suit Mubarak and his son," said Abdel-Alim. Mubarak met on Sunday with Sorour, Shehab, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Shura Council Chairman Safwat El-Sherif to discuss the fine tuning of the expected amendments. Sorour was nominated on Sunday as speaker for the 17th consecutive year, making him, as opposition parties were quick to point out, the longest-serving speaker since parliamentary life began 1866. His durability, they insist, is a result of ensuring that successive assemblies have been unquestioningly loyal to the president. The Muslim Brotherhood entertains few hopes for any new amendment of Article 76. Hamdi Hassan, the Brotherhood's parliamentary spokesman, said that "while the new amendment could help parties field candidates in next presidential candidates it would keep the restrictions on independent candidates intact". "Even if the new amendment enabled opposition field candidates they will be unable to compete with the NDP's candidate, who we expect to be Gamal Mubarak," said Hassan. In its current form Article 76 stipulates a party must have five per cent of seats in both houses to field a presidential candidate. Independent candidates can stand only if they are supported by 250 members of Egypt's parliamentary and municipal bodies. El-Said predicts that Article 76 will be amended to set the limit at two seats before a party can nominate a presidential candidate, with independent candidates requiring 15,000 signatures from ordinary citizens.
