Egypt memorandum could lead president of Egypt to hold his position until 2030

News24xx.com - Egyptian society will hold a referendum on changes to the constitution this weekend. As many as 55 million of the 100 million Egyptians have the right to vote in a referendum held for three days since Saturday, on April 20th 2019. The result could provide an opportunity for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to rule until 2030 and support the ruling military.

According to Sisi's supporters, constitutional changes are needed to give Sisi more opportunity to be able to complete major development projects and economic reforms. While critics say the change will only give Sisi more power and return Egypt to an authoritarian and decisive leadership model.

The amendment to change the constitution was actually accepted by the parliament which was dominated by Sisi supporters on Tuesday, April 16th 2019. Of the 596 members of parliament, 531 supported the amended constitution, while 22 others did not. The referendum is expected to strengthen the vote for Sisi.

On the other hand, the opposition protested because they were forced to rush to hold a referendum without proper public scrutiny. "They did not give us time to make a campaign asking people to say 'no' [to constitutional changes]" said an opposition member of the Civil Democratic Movement, Khaled Dawoud, as reported by Reuters on Saturday, April 20th 2019.

They also plan to hold a campaign online because of time constraints. The decision to hold a referendum has considered all views, according to the Egyptian government. Egyptian society has also been given the opportunity to debate constitutional changes which were the topic of this referendum.

News24xx.com/fik/red