Demands for President Morsi's ouster 'indisputable': 30 June Students

Ahram Online, Tuesday 25 Jun 2013

'Students of 30 June' movement urges Egyptian university students to take part in next Sunday's protests against President Morsi

"The demand for [Egyptian President Mohamed] Morsi to step down is indisputable," a spokesman for the coordinating committee of the 'Students of 30 June' movement said on Tuesday.

The Committee of the Students of 30 June consists of more than ten university representatives from both state-owned and private universities, including students of the Socialist Popular alliance Party, the Leftist Student Union of the American University in Cairo and the Revolutionary Movement of the British University in Cairo.

The conference urged all Egyptian students to participate in upcoming 30 June anti-Morsi protests.

The spokesman stated that, despite the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood had lost ground in Egyptian universities' student union elections, they could not stop the "Brotherhood's influence at Egyptian universities."

Although the Brotherhood lost ground in recent student elections, they nevertheless won the most seats in the Egyptian Student Council.

"We have always adopted the motto, 'The revolution is still ongoing'," the spokesman stated.

The committee has refused intervention by "remnants" of the Mubarak regime, who they described as "enemies of the revolution and the Egyptian people." They also reject military intervention in domestic politics, calling instead for a "national unity government" to oversee snap presidential elections.

According to the spokesman, "new policies that take the side of the poor" should be drafted.

Student protesters, according to the spokesman, will demand students' rights and will not chant or hold flags of any particular political party. Instead, they will hold the pictures of those who died protesting under the Mubarak, the military and the Morsi regimes.

During the question-and-answer session, a student representative stated that 30 June was a step aimed at stopping the corruption at universities and demanding the dismissal of the current minister of higher education.

"It will be their 'worst of luck' if they don't heed our demands," the representative warned. He stated that if the demands were not met, students would escalate and organise a "civil disobedience" campaign when the new school year started.

The students described the current regime as "fascist and dictatorial," equating it to the regime of ousted president Mubarak and to military rule, which followed Mubarak's ouster.

Many students lost their lives in demonstrations since the 25 January revolution in 2011.

The students of 30 June are the latest to join the 'Rebel' protests. Egyptian opposition umbrella group the National salvation front (NSF) has also joined 'Rebel' campaign.

'Rebel' is a signature drive that aims to collect 15 million signatures to outnumber the roughly 13.2 million Morsi garnered in last year's polls. 'Rebel' is scheduled for 30 June, which marks the end of Morsi's first year as president, when demonstrators plan to march to the Presidential Palace and call for snap elections. 

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