CAIRO: A military source warned against holding any protests or sit-ins during the referendum on the constitutional amendments. The source told state-TV that the law criminalizing thuggery will be imposed on anyone who attempts to obstruct the voting process on the referendum day set for March 19. On March 9, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf accredited a law that criminalized threatening and intimidating citizens whose penalty could reach the death sentence if a murder is included. The law was passed following several acts of thuggery committed on the previous days. “If the army [only] means thuggery, then it is fine,” said Hafez Abou Seada, secretary general of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR). “But it would be an unacceptable violation if the army's warning meant to hinder freedom of expression [on that day],” Abu Seada told Daily News Egypt. Abu Seada, however, rules out the possibility that the army meant it would stop any democratic practices guaranteed by international conventions that “it had previously vowed to maintain.” Several opposition figures, groups and parties frequently announced their objection to the amendments, calling for the formation of a new constitution ahead of the presidential elections. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has been running Egypt since former president Hosni Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11 while serving his sixth term. On Feb. 13, the council suspended the constitution, forming a committee of legal experts a few days later to amend a number of articles. The referendum will be on amendments to articles 75, 76, 77, 88, 93, 139 and 148, the cancellation of article 179, inserting a paragraph in article 189 and adding two items to it. The voting process will be overseen by the newly formed Supreme Judicial Committee for Supervising the Referendum led by First Deputy to the State Council President Mohamed Attia. The committee included six counselors from the State Council, the Cassation Court and the Appeals Courts of Ismailia and Mansoura governorates. The committee confirmed Monday that the referendum will be held on March 19 and won't be postponed. Attia said in a press conference that more than 45 million Egyptians who turned 18 before March 1 and older will cast their votes with their IDs in more than 350 general committees and 14,000 subcommittees. "The referendum is Egypt's first step toward freedom, justice and democracy and a major step toward democratic transformation toward a modern civil state," Attia said. The amendments include 9 articles of the constitution which voters will accept or refuse as a whole. "It would constitute a huge effort on judges if voters were allowed to accept or refuse each amended article," Attia said. "The amendments are for a temporary period and the elected president will be bound to form a founding association of 100 [members] to put a new constitution," Attia said. In case of refusal of the amendments, according to Attia, a "legislative vacuum" will occur that can only be filled by a decree from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. All Egyptian citizens, not affiliated with the army or police and who aren't denied their right for political participation via a judicial ruling, will be allowed to cast their votes in any electoral committee regardless of their birth place. However, Egyptians abroad won't be allowed to cast their votes because of legislative constraints banning them from casting their votes. "We studied the possibility of their participation and found it unattainable within the current legislative context and urged legislative amendments to allow them their right for participation in the future," Attia said. The voting process will be under complete judicial supervision through 16,000 member of the judicial authority, he added. In addition, 28,000 army soldiers and 8,000 officers will assist police in securing the voting process. All civil society organizations and media, local and foreign, will be allowed access inside electoral committees after getting permits from the committee. "We want to set a model for the upcoming legislative and presidential elections and we urge Egyptian people to set an example for the whole world on the ability to work, organize and cooperate like they did during the revolution," Attia said. “We will exert all efforts to guarantee the integrity … of the voting process,” he said on the committee's official Facebook page. “The committee's job is to supervise the referendum. It does not support one opinion against the other. Neither had it a role in formulating the amendments,” the committee said. The Egyptian constitution is made of 211 articles. It was adopted in 1971 and amended in 1980, 2005 and 2007.
