CAIRO: A parliamentary committee has finalized the wording of 34 constitutional amendments which will be subject to a public referendum next April. The current articulation of the amendmends, say observers, is no different from those suggested by President Hosni Mubarak last December. The opposition National Movement for Change Kefaya announced that it will hold a demonstration today, to protest the "cosmetic amendments. Muslim Brotherhood and independent MPs had already announced their boycott of the parliamentary discussions concerning these constitutional changes. Meanwhile, Shura Council President Safwat El Sherif has called for an emergency council meeting to be held today, to review the amendments before sending them back to the PA for finalization and voting. During a Sunday meeting between Brotherhood and independent MPs, who represent about a quarter of all PA members, they decided to withdraw from the discussions to protest their lack of involvement in the deliberations of the periphery committees assigned to decide on the final draft of the constitution. The MPs accused the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of hijacking the entire process. They claimed that the current wording had already been decided upon, considering the short time it took the committees to discuss and draft it. They stressed that they will "repudiate these illegitimate amendments. Brotherhood members believe the changes only aim to eliminate them from the political scene. Pundits agree that the government has been actively curbing the political participation of the group ever since it won 88 seats in the 2005 parliamentary elections. There are concerns that the current amendments would pave the way for the government and the ruling party to change the electoral system to be by party lists, something that would end the Brotherhood's chances of running in parliamentary elections. Parliamentary elections now take place under a simple constituency system but some officials have said they would prefer a party-list system. But the constitutional court ruled in 1987 that the party-list system was unconstitutional. Amendments to Article 5 prohibit any political activity based on religion and ban the establishment of political parties with a religious background. "Prohibiting any political activity based on religion is a crime against the people and against religion, said independent MP Mohamed El Omda. "Egypt is the biggest Islamic country, do you want it to be secular? In response, Parliament Speaker Fathy Sorour said that "the constitution rejects secularism and that Islam is the country's official religion. Article 88 tops the list of controversial amendments as it ends the judiciary's complete supervision over the elections. Under the new amendments, judicial supervision would be limited to general committees. The current draft stipulates that the elections take place on one day. The controversial Article 76 which regulates presidential elections was also on the agenda. The amended version only allows political parties that have been operating for five consecutive years to field presidential candidates. The parties are also required to hold three percent of the seats in parliament and/or the Shura Council. The nominee should have spent a minimum of one year in the party's higher committee. "This article will continue to be inadequate as long as it prevents independents from running in [presidential] elections, said MP Mostafa Bakry. NDP MP Zakaria Azmy emphasized that the two articles pertaining to independents in presidential elections will not be subject to more changes. "Could we allow someone to rent a party and join the presidential race before one year passes? The nature of Egypt's economic system, which was changed from socialism to capitalism, has also had its share of controversy. Sorour responded to some MPs' concerns about the outcome of turning Egypt into a capitalist state by saying that the amendments "give us the freedom to choose the most suitable economic system that achieves social justice, whether that system was socialist or capitalist.
