"The new constitutional amendments have become effective after they were approved by the People on Monday,"said People's Assembly Speaker Dr. Ahmed Srour in exculsive statement to MENA.

The People's Assembly Speaker said after the people had approved constitutional amendments, Egypt has started a new stage of constitutional life. He said these amendments are a big step forward in deepening democracy.

He said after the people had approved amendments, much legislation would be amended such as the political rights law and local administration law so as to pave the way before local council elections by the middle of 2008.

He said the upcoming stage would witness the adoption of the anti-terror law which will replace martial law adding that the state of emergency is due to come to end on May 31, 2008.

For his part, Safwat Al-Sherif, the Secretary General of the National Democratic Party (NDP) said that President Mubarak, the party leader and President of all Egyptians was following up the referendum on constitutional amendments through reports by the NDP operations threatre.

He said he received reports by the NDP secretaries in all governorates, adding that the result of the referendum conformed with the objectives hoped for, adding that the party was keen on holding the referendum in transparency and fairness. He said the citizen is the basis of democracy adding that the Egyptian people have turned a new chapter in the history of Egypt.

Moreover,Dr. Ali Eddin Hilal, the NDP Information Secretary said this stage makes it incumbent on us to act together for applying new constitutional texts and translate them into reality. He said all political parties are partners in leading the homeland regardless the difference of the programmes they adopt.

Meantime, Dr. Mofid Shehab, the Assistant NDP Secretary General for Parliamentary Affairs said in the light of the referendum on constitutional amendments, the ratio of voting registered 27.1 per cent, adding however this ratio is higher than the ratio of voting in previous referendums witnessed by Egypt.

Dr. Shehab said the ratio of the turnout indicates that citizens are fully aware of the fact that the issue of constitutional amendments touches our life as Egyptians. In addition to this, a report issued by the NHRC on Tuesday27/3/2007 indicated that Egyptian security agencies kept neutral during the referendum and that the voting process went relatively smooth.

Chairman of the Egyptian National Human rights Council (NHRC) Butros Ghali on Tuesday27/3/2007 said that some phenomena that were detected during Monday's referendum on constitutional amendments should be thoroughly studied by the NHRC and NGOs.

For his part,Ghali explained that these phenomena included a low turnout by voters.