• MB News
  • March 24, 2007
  • 35 minutes read

Egyptians in Vienna Protest Mubarak’s Constitutional Amendments

The Egyptian community in Vienna demonstrated on Friday at president Mubarak’s repressive constitutional amendments that his NDP parliamentarians approved, widening the gap between this autocratic regime and all Egyptians.
 
 
Many members of the Egyptian community in Vienna held a demonstration, in front of the UN building, protesting at president Mubarak-proposed constitutional amendments which MPs of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) approved in the People’s Assembly last week, while MPs representing the Muslim Brotherhood, independents and opposition parties rejected them.
 
This demonstration witnessed a considererable presence; dozens of participants represent the Democratic National Assembly in Austria, an umbrella group that includes a number of Arab institutions, foremost among which are the Islamic Cultural Complex (Muslim Brotherhood offshoot in Austria), and the Forum of Muslim Youth in addition to Turks and Syrians affiliated to the Austrian Arab Doctors’ Union.
 
The demonstrators distributed the Amnesty International’s statement that criticized the amendments and called on members of the Egyptian People’s Assembly (lower house of parliament) to reject them because they are ” the greatest erosion of human rights in 26 years”.
 
The organizers said also in a statement that” the Egyptian regime’s insistence on its one-sided wording and suggestions to these articles, lead to producing deformed, defective and contradictory articles that does not achieve any interest or lead to any progress or development”. The statement called on the Egyptian people to boycott the referendum on the new constitutional amendments.
 
In a phone call to Ikhwanweb, Sayyed Al Shirbini, the press spokesman of the Democratic National Assembly said that the amendments that the Egyptian NDP controlled parliament approved are against the principles of human rights, the international charters and the international covenants of human rights.
 
Al Shirbini confirmed that the coming anti-terrorism law which will be worse than the emergency law and will make Egypt a police state ruled by a junta, like previous eras.
 
In a related context, the London-based Egypt Democratic Society will organize in Britain next Monday a demonstration in front of the Egyptian embassy in London to protest at the constitutional amendments; the Egyptian community there called for taking part in this protest.
 
In Cairo, a number of web activists called on all political movements to organize a sit-in in Tahrir Square next Sunday to protest at these amendments billed by the government as reforms but they are all actually leading to more repression and tyranny; the call that has been posted on the activists weblogs said that” this demonstration may be the last one before turning Egypt from a republic into a private estate ” referring to would-be-amended article 179 that, experts sat, will constitutionally turn Egypt into a police state.
 
The amendments include introducing a text to the constitutional article 179 to pave the way for giving the security services absolute powers in arresting persons, ransacking houses and phone wiretapping as part of an ant-terrorism law that will be drafted to replace the state of emergency; the amendments include also sidelining the role of judges in supervising elections according to the amendment of article 88 that gives supervising elections to an independent commission to be selected by the NDP-controlled executive authority; the amendments hurt the Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest opposition group, because they introduce a text banning any political activity on a religious basis apparently undermining the group’s hopes for forming a political party.


 




Agenda Of Anti Mubarak’s Constitutional Amendments Demos:


Monday: London Anti-Mubarak Demo
3arabawey
Monday: DC Anti-Mubarak(s) Protest
3arabawey
Sunday: Protest Mubarak’s constitutional amendments
3arabawey
Monday: Alexandria Anti-Mubarak Protest
3arabawey
Monday: NYC Anti-Mubarak Protest
3arabawey
Comment on DC Anti-Mubarak Demo on Monday by Eva. Canada
By Eva. Canada


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Egyptian government warns against referendum protests
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Egypt opposition slams reforms as democracy attack
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Egypt’s Opposition Calls For Boycott Of Referendum
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Democracy Demotion in Egypt: Is the United States a Willing
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Interview With Condoleezza Rice
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Egypt’s rushed constitutional amendments cause outrage
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For Egypt’s Mubarak, how much power is enough?
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Egypt opposition to boycott constitution vote
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Mubarak’s Opponents Denounce Egyptian Reforms As Sham
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Egypt’s Brotherhood says will boycott referendum
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Egyptian Political Reform Mixed, but Trend Is Positive
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Egypt amends constitution
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Amnesty Concerns on Constitutional Changes Amnes…
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