Political activists and dozens of MPs will march on to the Parliament on May 3 calling for an end to the Emergency Act and amending some articles of the Constitution, warning they would boycott elections if their demands were turned down. Activists from "Egyptians for Fair and Free Elections" and "My Vote is my Demand" groups would start the march from a famous mosque in the Tahrir Square in central Cairo and would walk on to the Parliament. "We have four demands, which we will submit to the Parliament as follows: an end to the Emergency Law, enforcing the Political Rights Law, releasing all the detainees held under administrative orders and amending articles 76, 77 and 88 of the Constitution," said MP Hamdi Hassan, the spokesman for Egyptians for Fair and Free Elections movement. Hassan, an Islamist MP, added that his movement had invited all political factions in Egypt to join the march, including the National Association for Change headed by former chief of the UN watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei. "Several political groups said they would join us, including the Muslim Brotherhood," Hassan, a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, told the Egyptian Mail. He added that the group's MPs, who pose as independents, would be among the marchers. "Unless our demands were met, we would boycott the Shura Council election scheduled for June," Hassan said. President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday pledged a fair election in Egypt in his first speech since he had an operation last month, but also warned the opposition against "gambling" with stability. Egypt's secular opposition movements were galvanised earlier this year with the home return of ElBaradei, who launched a new reform drive. ElBaradei has said he would stand for president, but only if the Constitution is amended to remove restrictions on independent candidates. Monday, Egyptian academics in the US met with ElBaradei at Harvard University's Kennedy School in Boston. Meanwhile, some opposition political parties have launched a year-long initiative to know the pulse of the people on possible successor to Mubarak. They announced the foundation of a popular movement called "Sharik" (Participate) on the internet, asking citizens to choose a presidential candidate. A website was launched to receive the opinions of the people. There, citizens have to name a presidential candidate of their choice, write their demands from the candidates they choose and list the qualities they chose him for. "We are not founding a new movement, but we are co-operating with various standing movements and forces to invite the Egyptians to take part in choosing their next president," Abdel Ghaffar Shukr of the Tagammu Party said. Shukr, who is supervising the website, added that from the data collected, a short-list of candidates and a platform would be prepared.
