CAIRO - Egypt's political parties differ over the latest constitutional amendments, which some of the parties categorically refuse. Others, however, approve of the amendments, while still others approve of some and reject others. The Constitution was suspended a few days after the ruling military council, which has been governing the country since massive protests led to the ousting of President Mubarak, ordered the formation of a committee of independent legal experts to propose amendments to ensure democracy, a civil state and fair elections. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has announced that a national referendum on constitutional changes will be held on March 19. The leftist Unionist Progressive (Tagammu) Party is one of the parties that have rejected the amendments. Hussein Abdel-Raziq, one of its leaders, says that the party wants a new constitution to be drawn up, without having to modify the present Constitution, which, he argues, was invalidated when the SCAF took charge of the country on February 11. “This Constitution is also invalid as it was issued in 1971 when the unilateral ruling party was headed by a single ruler who had absolute power to make decisions on his own,” Abdel-Raziq adds. The January 25 revolution has got rid of the whole of the former regime, including Parliament, consisting of the Shura Council (Upper House) and People's Assembly (Lower House). “Political powers and parties, NGOs and judicial authorities have prepared a draft constitution for a parliamentary republic. This draft has already been published by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights,” Abdel-Raziq stresses. The opposition Nasserist Party also rejects the amendments. “We totally reject these amendments as the Constitution was abolished on January 25. This was confirmed on February 11 when the President entrusted all of his responsibilities to the military council which in turn has frozen the Constitution,” Tawhed el-Benhawi, the Secretary-General of the Nasserist Party, told the Arabic-language magazine, Radio and Television. “Another good reason for rejecting these amendments is that a new constitution will be drawn up after the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. This constitution requires new elections to be held,” he explained. The committee, formed to draft changes to the Constitution has proposed capping to eight years the time a president can stay in office and loosening the rules that curbed competition for the post. Tariq el-Bishri, the head of the committee, said the amendments to be put to a public referendum included reducing the presidential term to four years and imposing a two-term limit. President Hosni Mubarak was serving in his fifth, six-year term when he was toppled by a mass uprising on February 11. Under the amendments, the future president would also need to appoint a deputy within 60 days of taking office. Mubarak kept the post empty until the very end of his rule, when he appointed intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. Bishri said presidential candidates must either have: the support of 30 members of parliament; or the backing of 30,000 eligible voters across about half the country's governorates; or be nominated by a registered political party with at least one member elected to either the upper or lower house of parliament. Elections would be subject to judicial supervision ��" one of the main demands of protesters and opposition groups behind the demonstrations that forced Mubarak to step down and hand power to the Armed Forces. The proposed amendments will make it complicated for a president to maintain the state of emergency ��" in place for decades ��" which opposition activists want lifted as part of their broad demands for reform to Egypt's autocratic system of government. The state of emergency is still in place, though the military council has said it will lift it within six months. Meanwhile, Nagui el-Shehabi, the Chairman of opposition Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, has some reservations. He is critical of Article 87 of the Constitution, which has not been included in the amendments. This article says that 50 per cent of the members of the People's Assembly should be farmers and labourers. El- Shehabi says that this allows some highly placed people to cheat their way into the Parliament. As for Al-Wafd Party, it is very happy with these amendments. "These are the very demands sought by the opposition parties. Al-Wafd accepts these amendments in this transitional phase, followed by the creation of a committee responsible for drawing up a new constitution that keeps abreast with the changes in Egyptian society," says Essam Sheha, Al-Wafd's legal adviser. "These amendments will also guarantee the forming of a new parliamentary system by effective parties, which will be able to express their opinion freely without any restrictions." Al-Ghad Party also accepts the amendments, which “are acceptable for the party as they are a step towards a more democratic civil country within six months”, according to Moustafa Moussa, the party's Chairman.
