On 9 May president Sezer implied that he would veto amendments to the Turkish constitution, stating that the amendments had been passed at a very heated time. The European Union raised a similar objection. Foreign (non-Turkish) press also reported the expectation of a presidential veto on the AKP's recent amendments to the Turkish constitution. On 10 May further amendments to the Turkish constitution were officially passed by parliament, 376 to 1. According to the amendments, general elections will be carried out every four years rather than five. The president will now serve a maximum of two five-year terms instead of an unrestricted number of seven-year terms. The president will now be elected by the people rather than the parliament. President Sezer has 15 days to review the amendments and decide whether or not to veto and return the amendments to the parliament. On 11 May when asked about the amendments to the Turkish constitution, which now allow the president to be elected directly by the people rather than by a parliamentary vote, Gül announced that his candidacy is ongoing, despite stating on 6 May that he had withdrawn his candidacy. YÖK president Dr. Erdoğan Teziç, who survived an assassination attempt on 25 April 2007 criticized the AKP heavily, stating that they do not just seek political power but also increased government power and also are trying to use YÖK to this end. On 12 May a bomb placed on a bicycle was detonated in a market in İzmir wounding fifteen people just a day before the scheduled "republic protest" in the city. One of the wounded was in a critical condition and later died in the hospital while most of the others were lightly wounded and were released from the hospital the same day. No one claimed responsibility for the bombing. A second abandoned bicycle caused some panic but it was later determined that it was harmless. On May 13 a fifth rally took place in Gündoğdu square, İzmir. Reportedly over one million people gathered in İzmir for the rally to demand their country remain a secular state, stepping up pressure on the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) government before July elections. The municipal harbor officials confirmed that just the number of citizens traveling by public ferry to the event site numbered over 350,000. Leaders of the three leftist parties, namely Deniz Baykal of the CHP, Zeki Sezer of DSP, and Murat Karayalçın of SHP were also among the demonstrators. Security for the event was tightened with 5,000 police officers watching over the rally.