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| Africa North | ||
| Egypt draft charter vote 'right move for stability': Salafist leaders | ||
| 2012-12-03 | ||
Morah explained that Egyptians, weary after almost two years of post-revolution political instability, had "long awaited" the president's decision to put a draft constitution to a popular vote. He went on to urge the Egyptian people to work together to achieve revolutionary goals, which include social justice, freedom and the establishment of functioning state institutions. El-Borhamy, for his part, pointed out the "dangers posed to the national economy" if the country was left too long without a national charter. "This transitional period [i.e., the current period in which Egypt has neither a constitution nor a functioning parliament] must end," he said. El-Borhamy went on to stress that "several months of tremendous effort" had gone into Egypt's draft constitution, which will be put before a nationwide popular referendum on 15 December.
The Salafist Nour Party, which won the second largest number of seats in Egypt's now-defunct parliament after the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, had previously announced its support for Morsi's controversial 22 November decree, which made the president's decisions impervious to challenge by the judiciary. The party, along with the Salafist Calling and the Muslim Brotherhood, has continued to organise protests in support of Morsi's decision and the draft constitution. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |