The independent campaign supporting Mohamed ElBaradei for Egypt's presidency is attempting to gather one million signatures in support of the National Association for Change, a coalition formed by the former UN International Atomic Energy Agency head last month. The campaign also collected signatures from a group of people gathered in front of the Attorney General's office to protest the alleged torture of a physiotherapist from Fayoum. The doctors says he was tortured for supporting ElBaradei. Campaigners collected the signatures of dozens of protesters, as well as a number of passers-by and shop owners in downtown Cairo. The association seeks to push for political reforms including holding free parliamentary and presidential elections characterized by integrity and equal opportunity. The petition calls, among other things, for limiting the number of successive presidential terms to two, using national identity cards to cast ballots, and amending Articles 76, 77 and 88 of the Constitution (which regulate elections) as soon as possible, followed by an eventual drafting of a new Constitution. Al-Masry Al-Youm managed to get a copy of the petition, which is titled "The Popular Campaign for the Support of ElBaradei for the Presidency--ElBaradei for President in 2011, Together We Can Make Change Happen." Signatories are required to provide their address, national identity card or passport number, e-mail address, phone number, and signature. The signatories also have to state that the information is correct and disclosed of their own accord. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
