Opposition Protests against Mursi, Refuses Dialogue: Egypt

Local Editor

Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged protests in Cairo on Tuesday against a draft constitution that divided Egypt but looks set to be approved in the second half of a referendum this weekend.
Several hundred protesters outside the presidential palace chanted "Revolution, revolution, for the sake of the constitution" and called on Mursi to "Leave, leave, you coward!" While the protest was noisy, numbers were down on previous demonstrations.

Mursi obtained a 57 percent "yes" vote for the constitution in the first part of the referendum last weekend, state media said, less than he had hoped for.
Meanwhile, Ahmed al-Borai, secretary of the National Salvation Front (NSF), an umbrella organization of opposition groups, rejected the Constituent Assembly's invitation for dialogue on the constitution.

In an interview with the al-Ahram website, al-Borai questioned the authority of the assembly to call for the meeting because it was "dissolved the moment the constitution draft was finalized."

Earlier on Tuesday, the High Authority of the Constituent Assembly invited NSF leaders for a meeting on Friday to discuss their objections to the draft constitution and how to reach a national consensus.

"If the assembly was aware of our objections from the beginning why did it delay the invitation until the referendum was already being held?" asked al-Borai.
He also questioned what the outcome of the dialogue would be when the referendum is already underway.

"The NSF has urged the president to postpone the referendum for two weeks," al-Borai added, asserting that "the front would not agree to anything except a new draft constitution written by a more representative assembly."
The National Salvation Front is the main opposition coalition formed after the draft constitution was approved by President Mursi on 1 December.

Headed by al-Baradei and former presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahi and Amr Moussa, the front has called for a 'No' vote in the referendum.
The front has claimed 66 per cent voted 'No' in the poll's first phase.
However, unofficial results show 56.5 per cent voted 'Yes' in the ten governorates that voted on Saturday.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org