Cairo: a petition by 700 politicians vows to prevent Mubarak from a new term of office
Egypt, Politics, 10/25/2004

Some 700 activist and intellectual in Egypt issued a joint statement in which they vowed to seek amending the Egyptian constitution with the aim of preventing President Hosni Mubarak from nominating himself for a new term of office in the presidential elections due in 2005 and getting rid off the rule of the one-man regime.

Some 689 figures of various political trends including Islamists and communists including 30 parliamentarians signed a petition on Saturday under the title "the people's campaign for the sake of reforms." An umbrella founded in September, seeking to amend the Egyptian constitution in a way the President's term of office is confined to two times.

Among the signatories of the patent were the banned "Muslim Brothers" movement as well as 26 activists in the field of human rights, the civil society organizations and opposition political parties.

The patent considered that keeping the system of the one-man rule in Egypt will constitute "an obstacle before all opportunities for reforms and progress the country needs with the objective of withstanding political, social and economic challenges." The petition indicated that these challenges including containing corruption, the deterioration of public services, the price increase, the decline of living conditions and unemployment rate increase.

The petition also calls for restricting the President's control of the political departments in the country, with the aim of ensuring "separation between the authorities and the ( measure) of making elections under the control of the judiciary."

Signatories of the petition also urged abrogating the emergency laws prescribed since the assassination of the Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in 1981.

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