SEVERAL opposition activists on Wednesday reacted angrily to the Tuesday statements by officials from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) who denied the possibility of making constitutional amendments in the future. The activists fulminated at the NDP and said its manipulation of the political life was not conducive to what they described the “democracy Egyptians deserve”. “This makes it necessary for the people to take action to demand their rights,” said Mahmoud el- Khoderi, a former judge turned political activist. “People must understand that democracy and economic welfare are inseparable,” he told The Gazette in a telephone interview. During a meeting of the political office of the NDP, the party's Secretary-General Safwat el-Sherif ruled out the possibility of making constitutional amendments in the future. El-Sherif, who is also the Chairman of the Upper House of the Egyptian Parliament, said Article 76 of the Constitution has made it possible for several candidates to compete for Egypt's presidency for the first time since 1952. Many in the opposition, however, disagree. They say this article, which makes it necessary for a presidential candidate to get support from a certain number of legislators and municipal council members, is “restrictive”, only allowing the NDP to field a candidate in the presidential polls. The ruling party has the majority in Parliament and the local councils. But with the next parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year, followed by presidential elections in 2011, some people say the parliamentary map should change, giving the opposition the chance to field candidates as well. But this does not seem realistic, the opposition activists say, adding that the NDP will never allow any political power to win a majority in Parliament any time soon. This, in fact, was made clear in the deliberations of the NDP leaders during their sixth annual congress, held late last year. Most party leaders insist that the NDP will compete “very strongly” in the next parliamentary elections. “The NDP is a party with a very bad reputation,” says George Ishaq, a political activist and a member of the protest Kefaya (Enough) organisation. “It wants to rule this country forever.” Ishaq and many like-minded Egyptians have started a nationwide campaign, which includes gathering signatures via the social networking website Facebook, to demand constitutional and political reform. They back former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei's bid to make constitutional amendments and run for President. So far, they have gathered thousands of signatures from ordinary Egyptians who support his reform demands. But El-Sherif's statements seem to have baffled them. The Secretary- General of the ruling party, apparently referring to ElBaradei, said that anyone wanting to run for President must either join a political party or run as an independent. This, however, is precisely what ElBaradei and his supporters do not want. They say ElBaradei cannot join a marginal political party and run in elections completely controlled by the NDP. “It's time the people of this country to fight for their rights,” El- Khoderi said. “Rights aren't granted; they should be taken by force.”
