Opposition leaders are angry at the NDP's rejection of further constitutional amendments, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Opposition parties and protest movements have reacted angrily to the ruling National Democratic Party's (NDP) insistence that the constitution will not be changed ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010 and 2011. The angry reaction came on the heels of a recent meeting held by the ruling NDP's Policies Committee, chaired by Gamal Mubarak. In a press conference on 26 December the 46- year-old son of President Mubarak stressed that the NDP's agenda for the next two years did not include constitutional amendments. "The NDP introduced constitutional amendments in 2005 and 2007 and these now form the foundation upon which the ruling party will face parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010 and 2011... The NDP does accept conditions being imposed or people dictating what the Egyptian people do with their future." Mubarak's words were a response to calls by potential presidential candidates, such as Mohamed El-Baradei, the former secretary- general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and current secretary-general of the Arab League Amr Moussa, to change the constitution to allow for more competitive elections. "The NDP refuses to allow adventurers from outside to impose their will on the nation," intoned NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif. According to El-Sherif, "it is deplorable that some forget that it was the NDP that launched the process of change in 2005 when the constitution was amended to allow for the country's first free multi-candidate presidential elections." "The party is not interested in launching attacks against specific figures. All it wants to indicate is that the conditions set by the constitution for presidential elections are clear and must apply to all." "President Mubarak is the one who has the final say about his presidential nomination and until he makes his intentions clear the NDP is adamant that it wants him as its candidate in 2011." Mubarak and El-Sherif's statements attracted criticism from opposition and independent pundits who argue that it is the NDP that is seeking to impose its will on the Egyptian people by monopolising power. Amr Hashem Rabie, a political analyst with Al-Ahram, says the constitutional amendments of 2005 and 2007 were tailored to serve the interests of the ruling party while Gamal Zahran, an independent MP and professor of economics and political science at Suez Canal University, insists that without changes to articles 76, 77 and 88 of the constitution competitive elections will be impossible. "The NDP's refusal to accept amendments means that the door has been closed for any change in Egypt. Current conditions make it almost impossible for an independent candidate to run." Zahran also argued "Article 88 should be reformulated to allow full judicial supervision of the elections." In a recent press interview Arab League Secretary- General Amr Moussa said that "the road is blocked for independents to run in presidential elections." "I will not join a party just because it would allow me to be nominated... it is against my principles and I consider it a kind of political opportunism." In order for Moussa, 73, to run, he would need the endorsement of 250 elected representatives from the People's Assembly and Shura Council as well as the support of local councils. All three bodies are tightly controlled by the ruling NDP. Asked about whether President Mubarak's son Gamal would field himself as a presidential candidate Moussa said "he has the right to stand in presidential elections and I know he wants to play an active role in local politics but I do not know if he wants to run as president or not." El-Baradei has already stated that he "will only consider running as an independent, even if the conditions set for independents are very tough". In a recent press interview El-Baradei, 67, argued Egypt needed to introduce stronger guarantees for a free vote, including full judicial and international monitoring of elections, as well as ensure a more balanced distribution of power between the executive, judicial and legislative authorities. Ayman Nour, chairman of the Ghad Party and President Mubarak's main challenger in 2005, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "it is obvious both El-Baradei's and Moussa's conditions for free elections had fallen on deaf ears." In a challenge to NDP leaders a campaign was launched last week to collect signatures supporting El-Baradei's nomination as a presidential candidate in 2010. George Ishaq, a member of Kifaya (the Egyptian Movement for Change), said collecting endorsements from ordinary people in support of El-Baradei would embarrass the NDP. "The endorsements amplify the message that ordinary people want change and no longer accept the way the NDP has imposed its will for 30 years," said Ishaq. Organisers of the pro-Baradei endorsement campaign complained last week that Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marei had ordered public notary offices not to receive any endorsements from political activists in support of El-Baradei.
