Political and constitutional reform has topped the agenda of Egyptian political and civil society since the 1970s. In 1995 the Tagammu', together with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Nasserist, Labour, Liberal and Communist Parties, formed a steering committee to further the cause of reform. The committee held a conference, in December 1997, to discuss liberties and human rights. In July 2002 it launched the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (CDD). In March 2003 the latter organised a rally in front of the People's Assembly to protest the extension of the state of emergency laws.
In Egypt, as elsewhere, it would be a mistake to delay democratisation on the pretext of prioritising development or confronting external threats. Egyptian parties, political forces, and civil society groups have agreed on seven steps that should be taken prior to the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005.
These are: the election of the president and his deputies through direct and free polling from among more than one candidate; termination of the state of emergency and release of political prisoners; free and fair elections under Judicial supervision; freedom to form parties, assemble, and take industrial action; full separation of the NDP and the state; independence of labour and professional unions and civil society organisations from the state and freedom to publish and own newspapers and other media.
This week's Soapbox speaker is Tagammu Party's secretary-general and secretary of the Committee for the Defence of Democracy.
Political and constitutional reform has topped the agenda of Egyptian political and civil society since the 1970s. In 1995 the Tagammu', together with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Nasserist, Labour, Liberal and Communist Parties, formed a steering committee to further the cause of reform. The committee held a conference, in December 1997, to discuss liberties and human rights. In July 2002 it launched the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (CDD). In March 2003 the latter organised a rally in front of the People's Assembly to protest the extension of the state of emergency laws.
