PREVIOUS CONSTITUTION ARTICLES Article 75 : The candidate to be elected President of the Republic must be an Egyptian born to Egyptian parents and enjoy civil and political rights. His age must not be less than 40 Gregorian years. Article 76 : Nomination for presidential elections shall be allowed for political parties provided they were founded five years before the date for candidacy nominations, have been active throughout this period and have at least three per cent of the total of elected seats in each of the People's Assembly and Shura Council, or the equivalent of this combined percentage in one of the two houses. The presidential candidate to be fielded by any party must have held high office for at least one continuous year. As an exception from the above paragraph, the above- mentioned political parties shall be allowed to field candidates in any presidential elections to be conducted within the next 10 years, starting from 1 May 2006 provided that one of its members has won a seat in the People's Assembly or Shura Council in the most recent parliamentary elections. As for independent candidates, they must secure the recommendations of at least 250 members of the elected members of the two houses of parliament (the People's Assembly and Shura Council) and local governorate-level councils. They should get the recommendations of at least 65 People Assembly deputies and 25 Shura Council members and 10 members of local councils in at least 14 governorates. Article 77 : The term of the presidency is six years, starting from the date the result of the election is announced. The President of the Republic may be re-elected for other terms. Article 88 : The necessary conditions stipulated for becoming a member of the People's Assembly shall be defined by law. The rules of election and referendum shall be determined by law. The ballot shall be conducted in one day. A supreme commission characterised by independence and impartiality will supervise the elections as regulated by law. The law shall define the functions of the commission and the way it is formed and ensure its members are either current or retired judges. The commission will take charge of forming the general committees that will supervise the elections at the level of voting districts and committees that will supervise polling and vote-counting. The general committees should be formed of members of the judicial authorities in accordance with the rules and measures regulated by law. Article 93 : The People's Assembly shall be the only competent authority to decide upon the legality of the membership of its deputies. The Court of Cassation shall be entrusted with investigating the election appeals submitted to the assembly. The appeals shall be referred to the Court of Cassation within 15 days as from the date on which the assembly was informed of it, while the investigation shall be completed within 90 days. The result of the investigation and the decision reached by the court shall be submitted to the assembly to give a final say about the legality of its deputies. The membership of a deputy shall be deemed invalid only upon a decision taken by a majority of two thirds of the assembly's deputies. Article 139 : The President of the Republic may nominate one or more vice presidents, define their roles or relieve them of their posts. Article 148 : The President of the Republic shall declare a state of emergency in the way stated by the law. Such declaration must be submitted to the People's Assembly within the subsequent 15 days in order to allow the Assembly take a decision on it. If the People's Assembly is dissolved, the matter shall be submitted to the new Assembly to be discussed in its first meeting. In all cases, the declaration of the state of emergency shall be for a limited period of time, which may not be extended unless by approval of the People's Assembly. Article 179 : The state will assume the responsibility of safeguarding security and public order in the face of the dangers of terrorism. Special rules of identification and investigation required for combating such dangers shall be regulated by the law under the supervision of the judiciary and in a way that cannot be hampered by the measures stated in articles 41, 44 and the second paragraph of Article 45 of the constitution. The President of the Republic is empowered to refer any terrorist crime to any of the judicial authorities stated in the constitution or the law. Article 189 : The President of the Republic, as well as the People's Assembly, may request the amendment of one or more of the constitution's articles. The articles to be amended and the reasons justifying these amendments must be stated in the request of the amendment. In case the request is made by the People's Assembly, it should be signed by at least one third of the Assembly's deputies. In all cases, the Assembly shall discuss the amendment in principle. The decision taken in this respect shall be endorsed by the majority of deputies. If the request is rejected, the amendment of the same particular articles may not be requested again before the expiration of one year of the date of such rejection. If the People's Assembly approves the amendment in principle, the articles required to be amended shall be discussed after two months as from the date of the said approval. If the amendment is approved by two thirds of the deputies of the Assembly, it must be referred to the people for a referendum. If the amendment is approved, it shall be considered effective from the date of announcing the result of the referendum. TEXTS OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS Article 75 : The candidate to be elected President of the Republic must be an Egyptian born to Egyptian parents and enjoy civil and political rights. His age must not be less than 40 Gregorian years. Neither of his parents should hold a foreign nationality nor be married to a non-Egyptian. Article 76 : The President of the Republic should be elected via secret and direct ballot. He must get the endorsement of 30 elected members of the People's Assembly or Shura Council, endorsement by 30,000 eligible votes (endorsements must be from at least 15 provinces with at least 1,000 endorsements from each), or membership in a political party with at least one seat in either of the houses of parliament. A commission by the name of the Presidential Election Commission would be created and composed entirely of senior judges by virtue of their position (no appointees) to supervise the presidential election from the opening of the nomination period through the announcement of results. The commission's decisions will be final. The chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court will head the commission and it would include the chairman of Cairo's Appeals Court, the senior deputy of the chairman of the Court of Cassation, the senior deputy of the Supreme Constitutional Court, and the senior deputy chairman of the State Council. Article 77 : The presidential term shall be shortened from six to four years with a limit of two terms. Article 88 : Complete judicial supervision will be placed upon all elections and referenda -- from the announcement of elections to the announcement of results -- while electoral rolls, voting, and counting will be supervised by members of the judicial apparatus nominated by their higher commissions. Article 93 : The Supreme Constitutional Court, not the parliament itself, shall have the authority to decide upon appeals filed against the legality of membership of deputies. Article 139 : The president shall nominate one or more vice presidents within 60 days of being elected. The president shall define the roles of the vice president and is empowered to relieve him of his post. Article 148 : The president must submit a declaration of a state of emergency to parliament within seven days. The duration of the emergency period shall be restricted to no more than six months, which can be extended only by approval in popular referendum. Article 179 : This article is eliminated. Article 189 : Two amendments of the old text were introduced. New amendments to the constitution are to be requested by either the president (with cabinet approval) or at least half of the members of both houses of parliament. The second amendment states that a constituent assembly of 100 members to be elected by a majority of the elected members from a joint session of the People's Assembly and Shura Council, which would draft a new constitution within six months and submit it to a popular referendum.
