CAIRO: A panel of legal experts appointed by Egypt's military will submit a revised constitution to a referendum within two months, a member of the committee said Wednesday. The civilian panel met the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Tuesday and was given 10 days to revise the constitution in order to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections later this year. “We will finish the revisions in 10 days, and the referendum and the results will be completed in two months,” said Sobhi Saleh, a member of the eight-member panel that includes judges and constitutional experts. “The military has promised that the referendum will be guarded by the army and the police,” said Saleh, a former lawmaker and a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement. Saleh said that the military was eager to hand over power to a civilian administration as soon as possible. Some workers ignored a call by military rulers to return to work Wednesday, and a committee hammered out changes in Egypt's constitution to pave the way for a democracy to replace 30 years of Hosni Mubarak's iron role. The Higher Military Council had urged Egyptians to put aside the revolutionary ardour, that has found expression in protests and strikes about poor pay and working conditions, in the interests of national unity and restarting the damaged economy. Banks were closed across Egypt because of labor rows that were having a spillover effect across many sectors, while 12,000 workers went on strike at a textile plant in the city of Mahalla el-Kubra and Cairo's airport was also hit by industrial action. “Mubarak has left, but the problems are still the same if not more,” said John Sfakianakis, economist at Banque Saudi Fransi. “At this stage I would be more optimistic than last week given that you don't have hundreds of thousands on the streets.” There was a frenzy of rumor about the health of Mubarak, 82, who is holed up at his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh after flying from his Cairo palace. In last-ditch addresses, Mubarak said he wanted to die in Egypt. Life was far from normal five days after Mubarak was forced from power by a whirlwind 18-day uprising, with troops and tanks on the streets of Cairo, schools and banks closed and Egyptians still finding their new found freedom hard to believe. Youth activists behind protests which toppled Mubarak asked for a meeting with the Higher Military Council, which has promised a swift handover to democracy and civilian rule, but had yet to receive a reply, a leading activist said. With no clear leadership, the youth movement that was pivotal to the revolution because of its use of social networking sites to organize protests, is seeking to overcome divisions and unite to form political parties. “There are various strands of youth who have similar demands. The next step is to unite their ranks,” AbdelRahman Samir, a youth activist who has previously met with the military council said, adding: “Some youth coalitions have formed.” Opposition leaders are calling for the immediate release of political prisoners and the lifting of emergency laws.
