Over 100 lawmakers walked out of Egypt's parliament on Sunday to protest government moves to push through constitutional laws that opponents fear will entrench the ruling party's grip on power.
The parliament, dominated by President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party, approved a number of amendments in principle on Sunday and is expected to pass the entire package with a vote on Tuesday. A public referendum on the proposed changes would then be held early next month.
Analysts say the measures appear to target the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition movement, because they include a ban on political work based on religion and give the state sweeping security powers.
"We have decided to boycott these sessions to clear our conscience ... and let the National (Democratic) Party bear the responsibility before the people," Mohamed el-Katatny, head of the Brotherhood's parliament bloc, told reporters after leaving the parliament session.
London-based Amnesty International has called the proposed laws "the greatest erosion of human rights" since emergency laws were reinstated in 1981 after the killing of President Anwar Sadat.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Sunday criticised the rights group and said the laws were a domestic issue.
"Non-Egyptians do not have the right even to merely give their opinions about an issue that is considered at the heart of the country's internal matters," he said in a statement.
More than 100 lawmakers of the 454-seat legislature, mainly Islamists and a handful of independents, protested outside parliament as the session got underway. Some carried yellow banners saying the laws spelt the end of free elections and civil freedoms.
"Judgement Day will be tough on you," independent legislator Alaa Abdel-Moneim told ruling party lawmakers before leaving the chamber. Majority leader Abdel-Ahad Gamaleddin criticised the opposition walkout as "intellectual terrorism." At the heart of the opposition's fury over the amendments is an anti-terrorism clause that gives police greater arrest powers and wide authority to monitor private communications. The amendments would also weaken the role of judges in overseeing elections.