The leftist Tagammu Party rejects the recent recommended amendments, says party head Refaat Said in a press conference today.

Said says that the constitutional amendments do not take into consideration the concept of citizenship and do not restrict the powers of the president.

He pointed out that many of the articles pertaining to presidential powers remain untouched, which means that any president who rules Egypt can become a dictator.

Said recommended that all political parties, civil society groups and youth coalitions get together to create a constituent assembly to work on a new constitution for the country and to elect a new president and parliament once they agree on the final constitution.

The amendments were authored by the Constitutional Amendments Committee, which was established by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to amend the constitution to pave the way for democratic presidential and parliamentary elections.

Only certain articles in the constitution were amended, with the committee insisting that the current changes are temporary.

A national referendum will be held on 19 March, which the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces declared a national holiday to assess the public approval of the amendments.