The National Association for Change on Tuesday demanded the election of an interim president for a one-year term and recommended the transitional government open up nominations on 11 February.
In a statement, the association urged that the president have the powers stated in Articles 25 and 26 of the Interim Constitution issued on 30 March last year.
Article 25 defines the president's political powers, saying the president shall protect the sovereignty of the people, respect for the constitution and sovereignty of the law, as well as defend national unity and social justice.” Article 26 stipulates that a candidate for president must "be an Egyptian who has never held another citizenship, was born to two Egyptian parents who have never held another citizenship, [was never convicted of certain crimes, such as forgery or fraud], is not married to a non-Egyptian, and does not fall under the age of 40."
The statement called for the new constitution to be issued under the rule of an interim president, who would also have the right to run for president in an election held at the conclusion of his or her term.
“In response to the people’s desire for a swift power transition from the ruling military council to an elected civilian government, it will be necessary to amend Article 60 of the [March] constitutional declaration in order to allow the election of the interim president,” the statement said.
Article 60 regulates the most important task for the parliament in the transitional period which is electing a provisional assembly composed of 100 members to prepare a new draft constitution for the country.
The association also highlighted the necessity of amending Article 28 of the Interim Constitution to allow decisions of the presidential elections committee to be challenged. It requested setting standards for the selection of the panel that will draft the new constitution.
The NAC also proposed dissolving the upper house of parliament, the Shura Council, “in response to the people’s will,” saying voters largely boycotted the first round of the polls.
