A journalist close to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for amending the constitution to allow his term to be extended to six years instead of four, with Sisi leading a transitional council for "state protection" for five years.
"The year of political reform that was delayed," Yasser Rizk, who heads the board of Akhbar al-Youm, wrote in an article titled "The Year of Late Political Reform." He called for the amendment of several articles in the 2014 constitution that came after the coup of July 3, 2013, which toppled President-elect Mohamed Morsi. Shura Council elected.
Since Sisi took office, there have been many media and parliamentary demands to amend the constitution to allow longer presidential terms for Sisi, but there has been no formal comment on these demands except in Sisi's September 2000 statement that the constitution "was written with good intentions, Just".
Prior to this, activists circulated an audio recording of Sisi in October 2013 demanding a constitutional clause that would fortify him as defense minister and allow him to return to office if he did not succeed in the presidential elections.
In his article published on Saturday, Yasser Rizk wrote: "While I appreciate the integrity of the intentions of the constitution writing committee, the text of the presidential term of four years only did not take into consideration that we are still in a transition stage with its necessities and considerations.
"Constitutional lawmakers did not expect a president to take office. He was forced to accept it under popular pressure. It was not in their imagination that this popular hero would carry the responsibility of the renaissance of Egypt and take great strides on a path that does not seem to end in 2022."
He called for an increase in the presidential term to six years "as a transitional text that does not apply to incoming presidents." He did not deny that this was a "constitutional detail on an existing situation," but "who said that the constitutions are placed in a vacuum?" As he put it.
"State Protection Council"
In addition, the writer called for the formation of the "State Protection Council and the objectives of the revolution" headed by Sisi as "the founder of the June 30 system and the absolute statement of the third of July."
It was suggested that an article be added to the Constitution providing for the establishment of such a Transitional Council, with a five-year term beginning with the end of the Sisi presidency.
He suggested that the Council should include alongside Sisi the former and subsequent Presidents of Sisi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and other officials.
Rizk also called for the creation of a new article in the constitution or the addition of a paragraph to article 200 on the functions of the armed forces, which states that it is "a guardian of the principles of the revolution of 30 June and the objectives of the statement of the third of July."
In his defense of these proposals, Rizk said: "I have no doubt that the concern felt by the overwhelming majority about the future of the government after the end of the remaining three years of the presidency of the Sisi under the existing texts of the Constitution is balanced by the Brotherhood and waiting for the group before January 25 to connect what has been cut off from The reasons for power and the seizure of power. "
Yaser Rizk is a journalist who began his career as a military reporter. He is known for being close to the regime, whether during the era of deposed President Hosni Mubarak or Sisi. He was the first journalist to talk to Sissi after the coup, and activists broadcast a voice recording of the dialogue.