CAIRO, 20 March 2007 — Egypt’s Parliament is set to approve wide-ranging constitutional amendments that the opposition has branded a wholesale attack on democracy under the guise of fighting terrorism. The ruling party-dominated chamber is expected today to rubber-stamp amendments to 34 articles proposed by President Hosni Mubarak before they are put to a popular referendum on April 4.
Mubarak last year promised the “biggest and widest constitutional amendments since 1980” as part of the democratic reform he vowed would be the centerpiece of his fifth term in office.
The government says the changes will enhance democracy by strengthening the role of political parties in the political process, and combat terrorism. About 100 members of the opposition, mostly Islamists, staged a walkout from the debate and have condemned the amendments as an attempt to enshrine a quarter century-old state of emergency into the constitution.
Meanwhile, a 2-year-old Egyptian boy has tested positive for bird flu, bringing the number of people who have contracted the disease in the most populous Arab country to 26, the Health Ministry said yesterday.
The ministry identified the boy as Youssef Mohamed Mahmoud and said he was admitted to hospital on Friday in Aswan, the same southern city where a 10-year-old girl tested positive for the disease last week. She has since recovered.
“He’s in good condition now because Tamiflu was given within 24 hours after the onset of symptoms,” John Jabbour, a World Health Organization official in Cairo, told Reuters. Jabbour said there was no apparent link between the two Aswan cases, and the Health Ministry said in a statement that members of the boy’s family were under observation.
Since the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry in early 2006, 13 Egyptians have died from the disease. Most of those who fell ill were reported to have had contact with sick or dead household birds, primarily in northern Egypt.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s chief veterinary officer Joseph Domenech said on Thursday that Egypt was one of three countries that still do not have sufficient bird flu controls in place.
