A severe controversy has recently erupted in Egyptian political scene amid powers devoting efforts to amend the country's constitution and others vowing to defend it as one of their political struggle's gains. Days ahead of the first phase of the parliamentary elections, politicians and media hosts, loyal to the current regime, called for amending the constitution to grant President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi full scope when dealing with vital issues. The constitution, which was approved with a majority of 98.1 percent in Jan.18, 2014 as the first step of the road map declared following ousting the Muslim Brotherhood rule, gave the parliament greater powers than before. Mazhar Shaheen, an al-Azhar scholar and currently a TV host, has led a popular campaign to amend the constitution, indicating the president's ratification on the constitution cannot be eternal. Columnists Abdel Rehim Ali and Mustafa Bakri, who have recently won elections, claimed the constitution was written with "malicious intents", considering an amendment a necessity.
Meanwhile, coalition of the Democratic Current, non-governmental organizations and public figures have held a string of seminars and conferences to discuss mechanisms to defend the constitution. Democratic Current senior figure, Tarek Negida called for the launch of a "legal document" to protect the constitution and take its terms into action. The document will contain recommendations by politicians who attended the Constitution protection conference and formulated by Wahid Abdel Megid, Head of al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Negida added. A number of Popular Current leading figures including ambassador Ma'soum Salem, Hossam Moenis and Emad Hamdi as well as figures from the Popular Socialist Coalition and the Constitution Party attended the conference. Al-Karama (Opposition) party senior figure Abdel Aziz al-Husseiny slammed attempts to amend the constitution, indicating larger numbers of intellectuals and patriotic politicians will launch a popular campaign to protect the constitution. Representatives of the parties that won the first phase of the parliamentary elections said the calls for constitutional amendments have been brought for discussion without being ultimately approved. A committee of 50 members including representatives for the Egyptian spectrum participated in formulating the current constitution.
