• 00:22
  • Wednesday ,18 December 2013
العربية

Salafist Party boycotts constitution referendum

By-Cairopost

Copts and Poliltical Islam

00:12

Wednesday ,18 December 2013

Salafist Party boycotts constitution referendum

CAIRO: The deputy head of the Salafist Al-Watan Party Yousry Hammad said Monday that the party does not recognize the constitution drafted by the unelected 50-member committee appointed by interim President Adly Mansour.

Hammad said to Youm7 that there are certain articles of the new constitution that have to attacked, like the articles concerning rights and freedoms.
 
He added that the new constitution expanded the president’s powers and reduced the ones of the parliament, that immunized the sovereign organizations like the army, the police and the judiciary, and canceled the authority of Al-Azhar, thus encouraging to go before the constitutional court, which is originally the reason for the legal crises linked to Sharia (Islamic Law).
 
The constitution did not give farmers and labor any rights and put an article that, according to him, prevents this from being amended.
 
The deputy head of Al-Watan Party said that the legislative committee of the party was pushing to not acknowledge the constitution, and the trustees within the party in the different governorates decided to boycott the vote on the constitution referendum carried out on Jan. 14 and 15.