Ongoing constitutional amendments are unprecedented and represent a turning point in Egypt's history aimed at boosting the democratic process, said Alieddin Hilal, the Secretary General of the National Democratic Party's Information Committee.

In a speech, at a conference on the constitutional amendments hosted by Banha University on Tuesday March, 20, 2007, Hilal said the NDP is keen on holding fair elections and guaranteeing major representation of other parties noting that there is no even one single country allover the world which has a judge for each ballot box.

As for judicial supervision over elections, Hilal said the higher committee entrusted with overseeing elections will have the powers to guarantee holding fair elections adding that canceling 12 article from the Constitution on socialism does not mean transformation of the State from the economic activity to capitalism as the social justice is a constitutional principle. He confirmed that the State will continue its role in providing the basic services for the limited income brackets.

Hilal denied rumors saying that the State will abandon the limited income brackets and open the door before capitalism explaining that President Mubarak is so keen on those brackets. He called on the universities and scientific institutes to provide the legitimate means for students to give their opinions within the framework of freedom and democracy because there are no red lines banning the ideas as long as they are in the framework of legitimacy and law.

He made it clear that President Mubarak has called for the constitutional amendments without submitting his proposals to the People's Assembly as he wanted all people to express their opinions in order to realize a consensus. Dr. Hilal noted that the NDP has called on all parties to give their opinions and all offered ideas were discussed as the constitutional amendments are not exclusive to the NDP alone.

For his part, Counselor Adly Hussein, Governor of El-Qalioubiya, said that President Mubarak did not put forward ready texts or articles for a referendum but he aimed at the participation of all categories in the constitutional amendments.

Hussein added that ongoing debates on the judicial supervision over elections lead us to remember that there are previous elections in Egypt's history held without judicial supervision such as the elections of former prime minister Mamdouh Salem.