Egyptians widely divided over upcoming constitutional referendum

CAIRO. March 19. KAZINFORM Egyptians will go to the polls on Saturday to decide the fate of the constitutional amendments, which will pave the way for the country's transition period after the end of the 30-year rule of former President Hosni Mubarak; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Egyptians, with some 40 million eligible voters, or half of the country's population, have been widely divided as to say yes or no to the crucial referendum.

Two days after Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces dissolved the parliament and suspended the constitution. A committee was then appointed by the supreme council to amend some of the articles of the constitution in ten days.

According to the amendments, the presidential term will be shortened to four years from six years, and there will be a two- term cap on the president who should appoint one or more vice presidents within 60 days of taking office.

The changes also eased the restrictions on the qualifications of presidential candidates and said elections should be carried out under judicial monitoring.

Mohamed Abd el Aziz, a 25-year-old marketing employee with the Olympic Group Company in Cairo, said he would cast a no vote in the referendum, firstly because many articles remained unchanged with the president still enjoying great power.

"The president now has a maximum of two terms of office, it is good, but there are articles which give the president great power, we don't want this for sure," he said.

Rabab, a 21-year-old student agreed with Aziz, saying "I will definitely say no," and noting "the constitution should all be cancelled and rewritten from the start in accordance with the will of the people." The girl is qualified to vote as anyone 18 years old or above can vote with national IDs; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

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