CAIRO: A number of opposition parties and movements called Tuesday on Egyptian voters to reject constitutional amendments ahead of a referendum scheduled for March 19, demanding a new constitution drafted by an elected constituent assembly. The opposition said that the 1971 constitution has been rendered null and void by the January 25 Revolution and therefore cannot be amended. They criticized the proposed amendments as likely to pave the way to a "new dictator" as they do not restrict the powers of the president. "Egypt needs a totally new constitution and concerns about a constitutional vacuum can be solved through using the 1954 constitution and appointing a presidential council for an interim period," said Osama Al-Ghazaly Harb, president of the Democratic Front Party. "Our first priority is a complete transformation towards a democratic regime and any attempts at manipulating these demands are unacceptable," he added. The opposition powers include the Youth of the Revolution Coalition, Al-Tagammu and Al-Ghad Parties, the National Association for Change and the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations. They said that approving the amendments would mean the illegitimacy of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces — which has been charged with running the country since Feb. 11 and had suspended the constitution — and opens the doors for challenging all its decisions since it took power. The referendum will be on amendments to Articles 75, 76, 77, 88, 93, 139 and 148, the cancellation of Article 179, and adding a paragraph and two items to Article 189. "If people approve the amendments, we will demand that the army return to its barracks and that the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court hold the post of the president according to the constitution," said Khaled Ali, head of the Egyptian Center for Social and Economic Rights. "The amendments take the country to an establishing phase not an interim phase and if presidential elections take place, we won't have the legal right to challenge election results as the constitution gives the supervising judicial committee full authority," he added. He also said the amendments are not clear regarding ending the state of emergency in six months or extending it. Article 148 restricts the ability to impose a lengthy state of emergency by saying that the president must submit a declaration of emergency to the parliament within seven days. It also restricts the duration of the emergency period to no more than six months, which can be extended only by approval in popular referendum. "But the president can announce a new state of emergency one day after the end of the period if he has the majority bloc in the PA without a referendum," he said. The opposition agreed to start a campaign against the amendments that will include distributing flyers calling for people to vote no in the referendum. "If the 1971 constitution remains, we will open the doors for the old regime to return," said Hassan Nafa'a, professor of political science at Cairo University. The opposition also expressed concerns that the results of the referendum would not be fair since it is managed by the Ministry of Interior that forged the 2010 legislative elections. "Indicators show that there might be violations to the fairness of the referendum as they will take place without voter rosters allowing for the duplication of votes," Harb said. The judicial committee said that voters will be allowed to cast votes using their national IDs and phosphoric ink will be used to prevent duplication of votes. Those who are caught duplicating votes will be punished by two to five years in prison and a fine of LE 5,000–10,000.
