Egypt Prepares For Constitutional Referendum by Benson Agoha

Interim President Adly Mansour of Egypt.

Egypt will hold a Referendum on January 14 and 15, 2014 to approve its new Constitution.

Interim President Adly Mansour who announced the dates today said the referendum will be historic for Egypt, as it will help define the country's history.

Preside Mansour said "This is truly a historic moment, a defining moment in our modern history,"

It is not clear if dethroned former President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood will support the referendum, but the interim president said, they acknowledge that the constitution might not have reached the degree of perfection that many might expect.

He said "It has not reached the degree of perfection... but it is a historically important breakthrough for the nation."

Details of the new constitution will be made known to the population in due course in the hope that they will give a `Yes' vote to adopt it, paving the way for a road-map that will lead to parliamentary elections and the presidential election following later.

Report say he draft constitution will also give Interim President Mansour powers to be more flexible and therefore, can reverse the order.

However, analysts fear that if this happens, the opposition may seize the opportunity to prepare for, and maybe, win the parliamentary election.

Following the removal of President Hosni Mubarak, through a popular uprising, Egypt's political stability has been seriously threatened.

Deposed former President Mohammed Morsi, spent only a year in office before mass demonstrations again forced the military to step in and remove him.

Egypt, which practices the multi-party system, has a sizeable number of secular interest groups but, for many years was ruled by Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party. Since his removal, new laws now require political parties to have at least 5.000 members.

Powerful interest groups in Egypt include the Military, Muslim Brotherhood, Bread and Freedom Party, Egyptian Patriotic Movement, Republican People's Party, Democratic Jihad Party, Egyptian Will Party.

In total, Egypt has about 30 registered political parties.

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