CAIRO: The coalition of opposition parties put forth seven demands to guarantee free and fair parliamentary elections in 2010. The coalition includes Al Tagammu, Al Wafd, the Nasserist and the Democratic Front Parties. While they are waiting for their demands to be met, coalition members have not yet indicated whether or not they will participate in the elections. With regards to the presidential elections of 2011, members of the coalition demanded the constitution be amended to ensure decentralization of power as well as limiting the president s rule to only two terms. The demands include ceasing the existing emergency law and allowing full judicial monitoring of the elections throughout all its stages, from setting up the ballot stations to voting and counting. In addition, the opposition wants to allow more than one candidate to be able to run for elections. The coalition also wants citizens to be able to vote with their computerized national IDs without having to issue a voting card. Moreover, the coalition wants to allow all candidates to use government-owned media outlets for campaigning prior to the elections, with a close eye on the budget spent by each for such activities. Finally, members of the coalition are requesting that restrictions on communication between candidates and the public be lifted from all opposition and independent candidates. Egypt is approaching a critical time in its history; it s undergoing parliamentary and presidential elections which requires free and fair processes, read a statement released by the coalition Thursday. The four parties pledge a collective effort put towards mobilizing the public and all democratic powers in a unified direction aimed at putting at end to the state of doubt towards the country s future. A secure future should be based on establishing democracy, freedom of expression and transparent elections that represent the public, the statement continued. If the seven demands are not met, we will discuss the possibility of not taking part in the upcoming parliamentary elections, General Secretary of the Tagammu Party Sayed Abdel Aal told Daily News Egypt, stressing that their participation is dependant on the response to the requests they outlined. Meanwhile, the coalition will present draft laws to the parliament during its current session. The proposed laws will tackle issues of freedom of political activity, amending articles in the constitution, and laws regulating the People s Assembly and the Shoura Council.
