Politician in hot water after calling for poll on changing current regime

CAIRO – 8 August 2018: Parliament members and other figures have launched a fierce attack on Egyptian politician Maasoum Marzouk for his call to conduct a public referendum that may lead the current regime to collapse.

Opposition figure Marzouk called for conducting a public referendum asking people to vote in favor or against the current regime’s stay in power.

In case more than 50 percent of the electorate vote in favor of the regime, Marzouk said that everyone should then respect the regime’s policies.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s term will end and the Parliament will be dissolved if more than fifty percent of the electorate vote against the regime, according to Marzouk’s proposal.

In an interview with Egypt Today, MP Margaret Azer said that the Egyptian people will not accept calls that aim to harm the country’s security. She called on media and civil society to highlight the achievements that took place during the current leadership’s term and to warn people against such calls.

MP Yasser Omar said that such calls are backed by parties hostile to the country. He affirmed the necessity to bring the promoters for these calls to justice. Omar claimed that President Sisi is only rejected by the Muslim Brotherhood group and their supporters.

MP Hamdy Bekheit asserted that Marzouk’s call is unconstitutional and illogic, saying that conducting referendums requires the prior approval of two thirds of the Parliament members. He added that Marzouk wants to incite “chaos” in the time Egypt needs stability.

Bekheit explained that the freedom of opinion and expression does not include attempts to disturb national security.

Spokesman of the National Progressive Unionist party, Nabil Zaki, announced rejecting Marzouk’s calls, saying that his party differentiates between criticizing the ruler and calls to demolish the regime. Zaki warned that many parties are willing to interfere in the country’s domestic affairs.

A number of lawyers announced suing Marzouk, accusing him of deliberately agitating public opinion, attempting to overthrow the regime, and insulting the judicial authority.


Marzouk is an Egyptian diplomat, politician and author. He worked as an ambassador to Finland, Uganda and Estonia. Marzouk served as an assistant foreign minister for African issues. He was appointed as a CEO for the Egyptian Diplomatic Club in 2007.

He was an official spokesman to the election campaign of the Egyptian Popular Current Chairman Hamdeen Sabahi, who was Sisi’s sole contender in the 2014 election.

Sabahi got a relatively very small number of votes in the election, Judge Anwar al-Asi, head of the presidential election committee, announced in a press conference in June 2014. He added that spoilt votes in the 2014 election exceeded the votes for Sabahi, with 1,040,608 ballots, state-owned Al-Ahram reported.

Asi said that Sisi won 96.9 percent of votes, with a turnout of 47.45 percent.

Lawyer Mohamed Abdel Halim said that persons accused of attempting to overthrow the regime in Egypt can face sentences up to a life imprisonment, according to the Egyptian law.

Criminal Expert Refaat Abdel Hamid said that those who incite overthrowing the regime face an equal punishment to those who directly attempt to commit such violation, according to law.