Saturday, December 1, 2012

Morsi sets 15 December as date for referendum about constitution

Update:
 morsi
President Morsi announced Saturday evening during a tv-speech that the referendum about the new constitution wil be held on 15 December.

cairo university  
Tens of thousands of supporters, mainly members of the Ikhwan of Salafists, demonstrated in support of president Morsi at Cairo University on Saturday (Reuters). In fact there were two demonstrations: one of Morsi supporters who had been brought to Cairo in large numbers, and one of opponents of the president on Tahrir. It was the Brotherhood itself that had decided to change the place of the demonstration from Tahrir to Cairo University in order to avoid clahes. In Alexandria both demonstrations met each other. There fights did break out.
The demonstrations turned out to be also demonstrations in favour or against the new text of the Constitution, qhich the Constitutional Assembly unexpectedly finalised on Friday. President Morsi will receive the text Saturday and it is expected that he will endorse it a few hours later, reports Egypt Independent. The same paper published an (unofficial) translation in English, here. 
The new text will be submitted to a national referendum. The oppositional Front of National Salvation in which most secular and liberal parties and personalities are united, and which is adamantly against it as it is the product of an Assembly heavily dominated by Islamists, warned that doing so 'will endanger the country' . The Front prepares  more protests, like new marches towards the presidential palace. 

No comments: