In Egypt, the government says that a constitutional amendment introducing the first ever direct presidential elections won more than 80 percent approval in a national referendum. But the poll was immediately dismissed by the opposition who say the voting was rigged and characterized it as political trickery by President Hosni Mubarack. In theory the ammendment would allow other candidatres to seek the presidency. But the opposition says the conditions on presidential candidates are so restrictive that the ruling party would not face a credible challenge. Opposition leaders had called for a boycott of the poll and accuse the government of inflating turnout numbers.