Protests raging in Egypt over draft constitution approval
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E-mail Xinhua, December 1, 2012
A total of 85 members of the 100-people assembly attended the session and voted for 234 articles of the draft constitution one by one, while the rest members withdrew from it.
Former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, was among the boycotting members and he participated in Friday's rally. He said that he was shocked that the CA voted in only one night over all the constitution articles and termed it as "catastrophic," official MENA news agency quoted him as saying.
He stressed that his rejection to the declaration is irrevocable, urging all political powers to unite and participate actively in the protests.
Amid sounds of censure over its quick procedures, CA's Chief Hossam Gharyani said during the voting session that the body did not race through the charter, confirming each article of the draft spent averagely 300 hours to discuss and finalize.
During the voting, the assembly agreed on several divisive articles of the draft, such as the status of Sharia (Islamic law) in Egyptian legislation.
"Islam is the state religion. Arabic is the official language. Principle of Sharia is the main source of legislation," the second article of the draft stated.
To support Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood has decided Thursday to hold a rally on Saturday near Cairo University rather than the iconic Tahrir Square, where the civil forces will extend their calling at the same day for re-forming a constitution writing body and pulling down current cabinet.
Meanwhile, protesters across Egypt flooded to public areas after the Friday prayers, expressing their support or objection toward the constitutional declaration.
Security forces reinforced their presence around key government facilities, especially the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) headquarters, police stations and prisons, after several FJP's offices had been attacked during recent clashes, MENA reported.
In Alexandria governorate, demonstrators who gathered outside General Ibrahim Mosque called for canceling the declaration and the draft constitution, as well as stopping the referendum for the draft.
For his part, Morsi vowed Thursday before the charter approved that he will stop anyone from extending Egypt's transitional period, asserting that he was keen on all opinions of every political parties.
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