Egypt to introduce extensive constitutional amendments in 2007:parl't speaker

Ahmed Fathi Sorour, Speaker of the People's Assembly or Egypt's lower house of parliament, said on Monday that 2007 will be a year of constitutional reforms, which will see "extensive constitutional amendments", the official MENA news agency reported.

The amendments will include Constitution Article 76, which covers presidential candidacy, said Sorour.

According to the speaker, the amendments will be the biggest to be introduced into the 1971 Constitution and aim at charting out the country's future democratic life with all its political, economic and social aspects.

The anticipated changes in Article 76 will encourage parties to run in the coming presidential elections and bolster their position on the country's political map, said Sorour.

Sorour said the planned changes wouldn't infringe on civil rights or freedoms or the freedom of the press, dismissing rumors about the dissolution of the parliament.

The People's Assembly will hold its first procedural session on Nov. 8 to elect the parliamentary leadership, namely the speaker and his two deputies, and the members of the parliament's 19 committees, Sorour noted.

Moreover, Sorour said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will open the new parliamentary session by delivering an important political address before a joint convention of the parliament's lower and upper Houses (the People's Assembly and the Shura Council) on Nov. 19, which will outline the features of the forthcoming period in the country's history.

Source: Xinhua