The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) announced on Saturday the launch of the Know your Charter campaign to “raise awareness of the new constitution currently being written.”
The statement said the FJP and MB have held community discussions “where people were encouraged to voice their concerns and suggestions regarding the constitution’s articles.”
Mohammed Adel, one of the leaders of the 6 April youth movement said the group have already launched a counter campaign called “Protect your constitution,” which has been active for two weeks. Adel said “we have gone to people around the whole of Egypt and explain the constitution to them.” He added, “we have explained to them that we are rejecting the draft because it is not representative of all Egyptians and it is not adequate in the area of social and economic rights.”
The statement on the FJP website said the MB and the FJP have already held events around the country. They provide only three examples, two of which are in the greater Cairo area.
The FJP statement also described an educational seminar held in Shubra by the FJP Women’s Committee which “reviewed constitution-writing experiences in countries around the world.”
Adel expressed concern over the Know your charter campaign saying “the MB doesn’t want to change the draft and we are worried that they will only talk to people about the articles that they want to. People should be aware of the whole draft. ”
Jermeen Nasr, a founding member of Al-Dostour party said, “obviously the campaign is a ‘directing campaign’ not an ‘awareness campaign’.” Nasr also expressed concern over the Know your Charter campaign. She observed, “the Constituent Assembly is not representing all factions of society equally and as usual the campaign will be using religion to control opinions of the Egyptian people.”
Adel commented, “people have been happy to hear what we have to say. We have been going to everyone including the poorer areas where many people are uneducated and are unaware of their rights.” Adel said “we want a civil constitution that represents all Egyptians.”
