CAIRO: Head of the National Democratic Party’s (NDP) Policies Committee Gamal Mubarak spoke out in defense of the proposed constitutional amendments Sunday in a press conference held with the foreign press.
“Democracy is an evolving process, he said “and we’re moving in the right direction. Maybe it’s not as fast as people like, even as fast as we like, but we’re achieving progress.
As for the criticism of the amendments and opposition calls to boycott the referendum Mubarak said: “There are certain voices boycotting the referendum, but there are other voices not affiliated to the NDP advocating participation. Boycotting won’t push the process forward.
Mubarak did field questions concerning specific criticisms of the amendments. Concerning the amendment to article 88 which will reorganize the judicial oversight on ballot boxes, he said that the current electoral system is logistically unfeasible if bigger voter turnout is desired, due to the limited number of judges.
By law there must be a judge monitoring every ballot box in the electoral process.
“The number of registered voters is increasing, Mubarak said “we knew there would be skeptics, this is why we’re out there explaining the impossibility of current elections. Article 88 has more details on the elections and provides guarantees that do not exist in the current article. Granted, it does relegate the role of the legislature, but we’ll be working on it.
He added: “The new article 88 is not the end of the story. There is a need for legislative amendments, more guarantees are needed. [Article 88] will be followed by more legislation.
As for the new anti-terror legislation of article 179 Mubarak said: “All countries have to go a fine line between powers and protecting civil liberties in anti-terror laws.
“I keep anchoring things to the election manifesto. The president made it clear that . an anti-terror bill [was needed]. He said we cannot get rid of the emergency law because we don’t have a legislative substitute, he added.
As for the amendment to ban political parties on a religious platform, widely seen as targeting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Mubarak said that this is not a new development.
“People who echo that notion [should know] there is nothing new in that language. Religious parties not being allowed has been enshrined in our legislation for a long time.
“The only new thing is that it will be elevated to the constitutional level, Mubarak added.
The NDP was organized a drive to promote the constitutional amendments.
The Secretary of Organization in the NDP Ahmed Ezz said: “Our key objective is for the referendum to be impartial. We want a clean vote. [Further objectives] are voter turnout and finally to get a yes vote.
As for the belief that electoral law must be reformed Ezz said “We have 13,000 judges. With the importance of getting more than 30 percent voter turnout, we need to revamp the election process.
Journalists were taken to the NDP’s operation room where hundreds of young members were working the telephone lines trying to promote the amendments to voters.
One of the leaflets handed to reporters present at the NDP headquarters was titled “How the Amendments Promote Democracy and Advance Egypt. It argued the constitutional changes strengthen the role of parliament, underline the accountability of the government and boost the role of political parties.
The leaflet said “These changes empower parliament to ensure greater democracy. The aim is to bolster the democratic process to ensure all voices with legislative and political representation are heard.
Another leaflet stated that one of the potential challenges facing the campaign was “concern of potential moves by opposition parties and factions (Kefaya Movement, the banned Muslim Brotherhood) to disrupt the voting procedures in a number of districts.
