Yuksel Serdar Oguz
July 10, 2013•Update: February 03, 2017
CAIRO
The main liberal and Islamic political forces in Egypt were united in speaking out against the new constitutional declaration issued by interim President Adly Mansour.
“The National Salvation Front (NSF) reaffirms its refusal of this constitutional declaration which lacks several important articles and has others that need modification or deletion,” the front, a coalition of liberal, socialist and secular parties, said in a press statement.
“The NSF leaders decided to send a letter to the interim president outlining the reasons for our rejection of this declaration and the proposed amendments.”
Adly Mansour issued a 33-article constitutional declaration to regulate the transition period that followed the ouster of elected president Mohammad Morsi.
It stipulates amending the suspended constitution first, then holding parliamentary elections followed by presidential polls.
It gives the interim president legislative authority after consulting the government until the new parliament is elected.
Tamarod (Rebellion), the grassroots protest movement that spearheaded the campaign to ouster Morsi, said the declaration was issued without consultations.
The group’s founders met yesterday with the interim president’s political advisor and put forward their objections and the amendments they .
April 6 Movement, another leading youth group, echoed a similar position, demanding changes to the declaration.
The Salafist Nour party, which was one of the political forces consulted by the army before drawing its roadmap for the future of Egypt without Morsi, also rejected the constitutional declaration.
“The agreement with Sisi was that the panel entrusted with amending the constitution should be elected by the people,” the party said in a statement.
The Muslim Brotherhood rejected the declaration in principle, describing it as part of “the military coup” against the elected president.
