1000 public figures signed the petition. The petition rejects the proposal to amend Egypt’s Constitution in order to extend presidential time in office an idea that was floated by other public figures in previous petitions in March 2018. The statement reads that “The signatories believe that this absurdity will deepen the current regime’s crisis of legitimacy, a result of its neglect and continuous violation of many articles of the Constitution”. Yehia Abdel Hady, the former director of the Leadership and Management Development Centre declared that a team of journalists came up with the idea of the petition against the extension of the mandate, and explained that “The lack of freedom given to current media platforms might suggest that the majority of Egyptians agree on the amendment proposals, so the petition acts as an important means to communicate opinions of those who reject these amendments”. Since Al-Sisi’s re-election (in April 2018) some rumours appeared suggesting that the President’s entourage was proposing a modification of article 140 (concerning the mandates term). According to the news site “Madra Masr”, the amendment is planned to be draft by March 2019, but it was never officially confirmed by government.