Egypt draft charter vote 'right move for stability': Salafist leaders

Ahram Online , Sunday 2 Dec 2012

Salafist leaders laud President Morsi's decision to put proposed constitution to vote, warn of economic repercussions if Egypt is left too long without national charter

salafist leaders
Salafist Yasser Borhami (Photo: Reuters)

President Mohamed Morsi's decision to put Egypt's draft constitution before a popular referendum is the "right move for achieving stability in Egypt," Yasser El-Borhamy, deputy head of the Salafist Calling and member of the Constituent Assembly, and Galal Morah, secretary-general of the Salafist Nour Party, told state news agency MENA on Sunday.

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.

Morsi hailed the proposed national charter after the document was handed over to him by members of the Constituent Assembly (which drafted the new constitution) on Saturday.

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.

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