The proposed constitutional amendments in Egypt and their impacts on people were discussed at a seminar held in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Ayman Nour, chairman of Egypt’s Ghad Al-Thawra Party, said that proposed amendments need to be opposed.
Referring to Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Nour said: “The man, who governs Egypt, is trying to eliminate all the possibilities wanting him to go. He wants to cling to power by eliminating all the means. He is using the constitution as a tool.”
On Feb. 14, Egypt’s parliament approved proposed constitutional changes that would increase the duration of presidential terms from four to six years.
A total of 485 out of 596 MPs voted in favor of the proposed amendments. According to the constitution in its current form, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi cannot run for a third term in office.
Terming the proposed amendments “harming,” Nour said: “When we look at all the Egyptian people; rightists, leftists, liberals or Islamists, they do not accept what al-Sisi is doing right now.”
Instead of opposition, the Ghad Al-Thawra Party chairman said, there is support for al-Sisi right now “because of fear”.
Tarek Al-Zomor, former chairman of the Building and Development Party in Egypt, said there is a need to differentiate between soldiers and generals when it comes to coup in Egypt.
“In Egypt, not soldiers but generals seized the power,” Al-Zomor said.
“They seized the control of the power. They tried to control all the community. They are very professional on this.
“Constitutional violations do not bring stability,” he said.
“In order to provide stability, a real and legitimate ground should be established,” Al-Zomor added.
“The difference between Turkey and Egypt or other Arab countries is there has been a decent election atmosphere in Turkey,” Aktay said.
“During the coup periods, the referendums took place under military pressure but in normal times, all the elections have taken place in a decent atmosphere,” he said
In Turkey, the president can only serve for 2 terms, Aktay noted.
For his part, Gamal Fathy Mohamed Nassar, an academic from Islamic Science Department at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, said the military was also controlling the economy in Egypt.
“Ordinary people [in Egypt] cannot buy anything. Prices of fuel or electricity are quite high,” he said.
“Egyptian foundations need to borrow money in order to do its own jobs. What kind of state is it? It cannot do anything if it does not borrow money,” Nassar said.
“Let’s all together unite and give lessons to the al-Sisi administration,” he added.