MB and NAC’s online petition 7 demands for change, approaches 1, 000,000 signatures target

MB and NAC’s online petition 7 demands for change, approaches 1, 000,000 signatures target

The number of signatures collected by the Muslim Brotherhood‘s online campaign "Seven demands for reform," launched by Chairman Dr. Mohamed Badie and adopted by Egypt’s Opposition political powers, has so far reached 742,405 signatures through the website,"tawkiatonline". The latest count by the National Association for Change, NAC’s, website has revealed that 114166 signatures have been collected, exceeding a total of over 850,000 signatures.

This comes at a time when petitioners face difficulties, arrests and physical abuse sometimes by police inside the Egyptian Universities.

MP Ahmad Diab, secretary- general of the MB parliamentary bloc, has stressed that Egyptians are eager to change, to overcome the difficult social and economic conditions that have occured as a result of the wrong policies of the government.

He also noted that, Mubarak’s regime largely deepens political deadlock and unprecedentedly increases rates of poverty and unemployment.

 

"Silence is no longer golden and shows people are hungry for change," MP Diab said, adding: "When people find a way to change, they will partake in without hesitation," referring to the MB and NAC’s online petition "Seven demands for reform".

 

The seven points demand the following:

1. Ending the state of emergency.
2. The empowerment of the Egyptian judiciary to supervise the full electoral process. 
3. Monitoring of the elections by local and international civil society organizations.
4. Providing equal opportunities in the media for all candidates, especially in the presidential elections.
5. Enabling Egyptians abroad to exercise their right to vote in embassies and consulates of Egypt.
6. Ensuring the right to run for presidential elections without arbitrary restrictions, in line with Egypt’s obligations under the International Convention for Civil and Political Rights and limiting the right to run for presidency to only two terms.
7. Elections by individual identifying social numbers.

 In order to attain the listed procedures and safeguards, amendments to articles 76, 77 and 88 of the Constitution must take place as soon as possible.