Abul-Fotouh said that Egypt’s current state of polarization was not conducive to the production of a viable constitution.
The Strong Egypt Party on Monday called on citizens to vote against an amended version of Egypt’s 2012 constitution in an upcoming referendum.
“We announce our rejection of the draft constitution,” party head Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh told a Monday press conference. “We will take part in the referendum and we will vote ‘No’.”
Egypt plans to hold a popular referendum – expected sometime in January – on an amended version of the 2012 national charter, which was suspended by the military in the wake of elected president Mohamed Morsi’s July 3 ouster.
Amendment of the constitution is a central pillar of a roadmap for political transition imposed by the army following Morsi’s ouster and subsequent arrest.
Egypt’s military-backed interim authorities have repeatedly promised a free and transparent referendum, to be supervised by judicial officials and international and local polling observers.
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Abul-Fotouh, however, said that Egypt’s current state of polarization was not conducive to the production of a viable constitution.
“Not to mention the fact that members of the committee were appointed rather than elected,” he added, referring to the 50-member constitutional panel tasked with amending the charter.
Abul-Fotouh went on to assert that the new draft constitution had failed to meet the party’s demands in terms of freedoms and social justice.
Instead, he said, the amended charter served to curb personal freedoms and strengthen the grip of Egypt’s military establishment on the machinery of the state.
AA
