CAIRO: Lawyers are joining forces with the National Coalition for Change's campaign to garner public support for its seven demands for change, by having 100 law offices collect signatures. Mohamed ElBaradei, Former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and head of the National Coalition for Change, had presented seven demands for political change, including constitutional overhauls. The lawyers are holding a meeting on Wednesday, May 12, at the headquarters of The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) to announce that 100 law offices, spread across Egypt, will start collecting signatures. The campaign is targeting 5 million signatures. "Collecting signatures through lawyers' offices will give the citizen a sense of reassurance and make him sign without fear of reprisal,” member of the legal committee in the National Coalition for Change, Essam Sultan, told Daily News Egypt. “The campaign will be effective and will achieve huge success among citizens.” Sultan, who is also the coordinator of the Coalition's representatives at the Lawyers' Syndicate, said that what motivated them to start the campaign is the lack of "an organized group that's spread around Egypt, which can lead a signature campaign that coincides with an internet-based campaign through Facebook, Twitter and lawyer forums. Sultan added, "We want to collect at least 5 million signatures, a matter which requires and organized effort and lawyers who can achieve this through their offices that are spread all around governorates in Egypt." The Coalition and the April 6 Youth movement called for a demonstration on the morning of Tuesday, May 11, in front of Parliament headquarters during the discussion of a government request to extend the implementation of the emergency law, which has been imposed on Egypt for almost 30 years.
