CAIRO: The April 6 Youth Movement quit Tuesday the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, accusing it of supporting dissidents who have “tarnished” the movement’s image.
In a statement, April 6 attributed the “overdue” decision to what it described as the end of the coalition’s political role after the referendum, calling for forming a new coalition comprising all national powers to deal with the upcoming legislative elections under a unified roster.
"The coalition is only a political representative of the member political powers, conveying their common views, and is not authorized to interfere in the internal affairs or blatantly support members within these groups in cases of [internal] conflicts in any way," the statement read.
The coalition said in a statement Tuesday that after a vote, it will consider Amr Ezz and Tarek Al-Khouly the representatives of April 6 until elections are held after 60 days.
Internal conflicts emerged over the decision to turn April 6 into a political NGO, which led a group of members, including Ezz and Al-Khouly, and a member of the Justice and Freedom movement to announce that they no longer recognize Ahmed Maher as the general coordinator of the movement.
The group said that being an NGO will open the doors for foreign funding and claimed that Maher had taken the decision unilaterally in an authoritarian manner and that they now represent April 6 not Maher.
Maher said last week that the decision was approved by the majority of members in 22 governorates.
"Our decision comes in respect to the persons who coordinated with us since Jan. 25 and helped in the preparations for this day and took the risk," the coalition statement said.
The coalition said that they won’t interfere in the ongoing conflict within the movement and will not support one side over the other.
The movement said the coalition "failed in uniting youth groups and increased the gap between its member groups as well as between it and the public at a time when the public were waiting for more ways to communicate.”
