Cairo: Egypt’s main opposition alliance yesterday called its supporters to vote “No” in an upcoming referendum on a contentious draft constitution.
The National Salvation Front, led by Nobel laureate Mahmoud Al Baradei, however demanded “guarantees” before voting in the referendum due on Saturday.
“The front has decided to go polls for a ‘No’ vote and demands the provision of basic guarantees for its participation,” Hamdeen Sabahi, a leading member of the coalition, said in Cairo.
The guarantees, according to him, include full judicial oversight of the referendum, adequate security in polling stations and giving access to local and international non-government groups to monitor the process.
The front has also demanded that the referendum be held in a single day. The latter demand came shortly after state media reported that the referendum will be held on two separate days.
“If these guarantees are not heeded, we’ll withdraw from the referendum,” said Sabahi.
The alliance has led in recent days massive protests against the constitution, drafted by an Islamist-controlled constituent assembly. The opposition has condemned the charter as a sham and demanded Islamist President Mohammad Mursi to suspend the vote on it.
“The Front confirms the legitimacy of all peaceful means to bring down the constitution,” Sabahi said.
Mursi, facing the worst crisis since taking office in June, has said that the new constitution is necessary for the country’s democratic transition from the authoritarian rule of his predecessor Hosni Mubarak, toppled in a popular uprising in February last year.
The dispute has highly polarised Egypt between the influential Islamists and the mostly-secular opposition.
Stepping into the crisis, the army late Tuesday called for “national unity” talks and invited Mursi, opposition leaders and prominent public figures to attend.
However, hours before the talks were to be held yesterday at an army facility in Cairo, the military said the gathering had been postponed “until a date to be set later”.
A statement by the army on its official Facebook page attributed the suspension of the talks to what termed “lower responses than expected” to the call.
Defence Minister Abdul Fattah Al Sessi, who was appointed by Mursi in August, called on the nation’s political powers and all Egyptians to “shoulder responsibility in this very delicate and sensitive stage”.
The military ruled Egypt between February last year, when Mubarak was deposed, until June 30 when Mursi took office.
The army has since kept a low profile until last week when it warned of what it called a “catastrophe” due to the conflict between Mursi and the opposition.
An election commission in charge of the constitution vote yesterday said that the decision to hold the referendum on two days instead of one is due to lack of judges, reported the semi-official newspaper Al Ahram.
The Judges’ Club, an independent judicial union, has said that 90 per cent of judges will boycott overseeing the referendum, citing dissatisfaction with alleged curbs in the new constitution on the judiciary’s independence.
The referendum will be held on Saturday in 10 heavily populated provinces and on December 22 in the other 17 provinces of the country. No date has been set for announcing the final results.
