The amendments still need to be reviewed, debated and approved by a special committee, then returned to Parliament and put to a public referendum. The entire process could be completed by as early as mid-April. The question is not only what will happen at the polls, but also, and perhaps more significant, what might happen between now and then.

Many commentators have shrugged off the referendum as a foregone conclusion, an orchestrated event in which the “yes” vote will be rigged to prevail. The question that seems to arise most often among the privileged — doctors, professors, former M.P.s I’ve talked to in Cairo — is whether Egyptians understand the implications of the changes they will be asked to vote on, or if like the British with Brexit, they don’t fully measure the repercussions. In fact, that question is irrelevant. What Egyptians understand is that Mr. Sisi could rule for another 15 years. And what they know is that already they can barely sustain themselves.

When you talk to people on the streets of Cairo, on the city’s outskirts or in its poor informal settlements, and when you travel to Alexandria, Minya or further south, it becomes clear that it’s the hard facts of daily life that dictate the public’s thinking around revising the Constitution. The people know that since this president’s election, prices are up and the Egyptian pound is down. A subway ticket, which cost 1 pound in 2014, is now 7 pounds; a cylinder of cooking gas, once 8 pounds, is 50 pounds. They know that the austerity measures implemented by the government in exchange for a sizable, overdue loan from the International Monetary Fund have harmed them. They know that they want change.

Opponents of the government, or of these constitutional amendments, have criticized the proposed changes, but so far no formal, legal contestation and no visibly forceful “no” campaign are underway. Yet the current situation presents an opportunity anew, especially for the opposition, to redirect the country’s political trajectory.

The turning point of the 2011 revolution came on Feb. 1 that year, a few days after riot police had fled their positions and then protesters had called for a million-man march. That’s when I heard friends and family who until that point had been fearful of marching announce that they, too, wanted to go in the streets. They wanted to be part of that million. That moment is what led, ultimately, to Mr. Mubarak’s ouster. Likewise, the upcoming referendum is a moment to mobilize around broad dissatisfaction.