الوثيقة المصرية للتغيير والإصلاح

To the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mohamed Husnie Mubark

Officials, and All Those Interested in Egypt’s Present and Future;

Welcoming the call of the “Youth of Egypt Party” (under establishment), we,
members of the party, representatives of all various political and partisan
spectra, and comers from different religious backgrounds, signing hereby on
this Statement, all of us drawn by our true aspiration for a better future
for our country which suffers from ailments undeniable but by a man of no
wit or a man of ill interests – we approach with this Statement all those
who are anxious for the good of Egypt, all activists everywhere, and all
callers for a more tolerant homeland and a more just world. We call upon
them to join us in signing this Statement which we submit to the people in
charge of Egypt’s affairs, asking them to consider the demands set out in it
a path for the rescue of our homeland’s uncertain future. We seek to
emphasize that such demands are the fruit of a candid vision that emerged
from true Egyptian hearts and crystallized through lengthy discussions on
the Youth of Egypt newspaper website: www.shbabmisr.com.

We, though coming from different backgrounds, have an absolute belief in our
homeland and an enmity for all forms of both external and internal
colonization. By external colonization we mean all of its known forms,
whether military, economic, cultural or any other form that affects the
identity of the country and intervenes in the management of its affairs. And
by internal colonization we mean the country’s being taken hostage by a
limited group of individuals who monopolize its riches, inherit power
amongst themselves, and deliberately deprive the Egyptian people from their
right in their homeland; their right to choose their rulers, their right to
choose their representatives, their right to choose the policies that
preserve and develop their riches, and their right to build a better future
for their children.

And we, although politically marginalized and having no chance to engage in
the public political life, have a joint quality; we have the will and
resolve that make us most openly and without hesitation issue the details of
this Statement on which we sign with our true names and with our free will.
In this Statement we declare that we have a vision that we believe is right
and can enable us to set a plan for a better future Egypt; we stand on the
ground that those who have the right vision have the future. Our vision in
brief revolves around calling for urgent and immediate political and
constitutional reforms in order to rescue the country from the deteriorating
state it suffers from and that seems without end in the foreseeable future.

Opinions have agreed on the inclusion of the following demands into this
Statement so that it represents a call for all Egyptians toward a peaceful
and real change in Egypt:

We believe that what a country needs to achieve development and progress is
a full political stability that stands on firm pillars, guarded by a
powerful constitution in which enactment all political currents participate
and that is protected by the power of the army through a clear provision in
it. Such a constitution would make it impossible to manipulate or violate
its provisions in any way by whatever political current that enjoys a
majority that encourages it to change the constitution in its favor; and
this requires the utter separation of the military institution from all
civilian life institutions.

In order to ensure moving ahead with genuine steps on the path of reform,
and to turn such steps into tangible reality rather than public relations
talk, there must be strong and firm guarantees for such a reform that are
trusted by everyone. Those guarantees are: the annulment of the emergency
law; the president’s abandoning the post of president of the National
Democratic Party

In order to safeguard justice, integrity, and equal opportunities among all
Egyptian parties participating in the political life, and in order to
enforce the principle of “the government of the party” which disappeared
behind the state of “the party of the government”; and full judicial
supervision over presidential elections, elections of the People’s Assembly
and the Shura Council, and elections at the level of the municipalities,
with the establishment of a permanent judicial commission for the purpose of
supervising elections. Such a commission must enjoy full independence and
jurisdictions. In this regard, the use of election cards must be canceled,
and every citizen must be automatically listed in election registers with
his/her national ID number. Press and all media channels must also be saved
the influences and predominance of the government.

The respect of human rights and preserving the value of ordinary citizens
necessitate guaranteeing the freedom of expression in all forms and
fashions. The immediate halt of torture, the prosecution of its
perpetrators, as well as stopping the arrest of people of thought and
releasing all political detainees who did not carry arms to forcefully
impose their thoughts are essential and vital elements to the enforcement of
the reform path we seek.

We also demand that the call for stability that all of us pursue does not
lead to backing off from ongoing revitalization of political cadres, as
there is a huge difference between stability and ruggedness. For that
reason, we think that the presence of political parties and considering them
schools for such cadres reassure our embarking on the right path. On that
ground, the political parties formation law must be amended, changing the
criteria adopted by the Party Licensing Commission, so as to give room for
the formation of any new party that wishes to participate in the public
political life and to give it the full chance to introduce its programs and
to contribute in the formation of the people’s conscience which suffered
from the one-party propaganda that contradicted with the pluralism
stipulated in the constitution. The new amendments must give new parties the
right to publicize for themselves in the different media channels when
nominating their candidates for elections for municipalities, national
assemblies, as well as the presidency of the Republic.

We are totally confident that our people possesses a treasure of misemployed
potentials which can cause it to reach the position it deserves and the
stature that fits with its great history, once the gates of participation
are open to it with no intimidation of a ruling power or opposition parties.
And if change is associated with institutions and policies, it has to reach
to top officials at all ranks of responsibility as well. Hence, we call for
limiting the presidency of the Republic to a maximum of two five-year terms
in office, and for it to be determined via opening the candidacy nomination
for all citizens, whether independent or nominated by the different Egyptian
parties, and with every candidate nominating his/her vice-president
co-runner if he/she wins the elections.
In order to achieve the results we aspire to, we must form a powerful
administration that is able to implement the policies it adopts.

This in turn requires the complete separation of the three authorities: the
legislative, executive, and judicial, and relying responsibilities on
powerful, fair, and daring people whose differences would not lead to
disruption or division. Those officials must know that their staying in
power is not without end, and that it is their duty to ensure the sharing of
power among successive able and trustworthy generations. They must also know
that they living in luxury while the people living in poverty and
underdevelopment is unacceptable, and therefore there must be guarantees
that clearly separate their private holdings from the public wealth, which
is a full property of the whole nation – not of a dominating group.

We have a conviction too that the power and high stature we want for our
country must stand on the following principles:

Banishing of favoritism in all its forms with regard to all governmental
dealings, and announcing all facts with full transparency as the core of any
clean handed and trustworthy government. This needs decisive steps to be
taken in order to vanquish corruption, tyranny and apathy; such steps would
include the following:

Salaries of all public employees must be adequately sufficient so that they
can resist any corruption or bribery temptations. We stress that combating
corruption must be an up-down process, and that we must start with it
immediately, trusting it to people of honor who have enough moral courage
and the necessary ethical traits.

Creating a tax system that narrows down the gap between the poor and the
rich, where some people export their dinner every day from abroad while
others heal their hunger by sleep.

Every person must feel that the riches of every grain of his homeland
returns to him or her; that every gear in every factory machine is
benefiting him or her; and that he or she has a share in every penny the
country earns.

Stopping the wasting of national potentials and capabilities going on
through neglecting knowledge and scientists. To that end, scientific
research and endeavor must be well supported in order to stop our dependence
on others – even in our food, while millions of the sons of Egypt are
suffering from unemployment and underemployment.
Standing firmly against all voices of fanaticism that divide the country and
disperse the efforts of its sons, whoever those standing behind them are.

Prompt application of the rule of law principle, sparing no category
whatsoever in the society from being subject to it, no matter what the
excuses or pretexts are.