Egypt may delay referendum vote

CAIRO, March 14 (UPI) -- Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces may delay a vote on constitutional amendments until presidential elections are held, a source told Ahram Online.

The government source told the Egyptian Web site a decision on the amendment referendum, scheduled to take place Saturday, may be postponed because a number of politicians said they would vote against the planned amendments.

"Our eyes are on the opinion of the street and the existing political forces in the interest of the country and if this is the trend among the people then there is no problem in delaying the referendum," the source told the Web site.

The council is leaning toward holding presidential elections before conducting a national vote on constitutional amendments, the government source said.

Magdi Radi, a spokesman for the Cabinet told, the Middle East News Agency the proposed amendments will reduce the length of a presidential term to four from six years and restrict the number of terms any leader can serve in the post to two.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has been governing Egypt since Feb.11 after massive anti-government protests that shook the country led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.