Al-Dostour Party has staged an anti-Morsy protest in Mahmoudiya, in the governorate of Beheira.
Mahmoudiya is the hometown of Sheikh Hassan Al-Banna who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928.
According to Al-Dostour Party member in Mahmoudiya, Ahmed Khlefa, the protest was organised by the party to denounce President Mohamed Morsy’ recent constitutional declaration.
“Not everyone in the protest was from the [Dostour] party,” Khlefa said. “There were ordinary citizens who were there to protests the poor administration of the country.”
He said there were no clashes with Muslim Brotherhood supporters during the protests.
Osama Mohamed from the Freedom and Justice Party in Beheira governorate suggested the turnout had been low, asking “who was actually there?”
Khelfa however said around 2,000 people attended. “For a small town like Mahmoudiya, that’s a big protest,” he said. He added that in contrast, a protest organised by the FJP on Sunday was attended by 50 people.
Mohamed said some of the protesters had wanted to burn the local FJP headquarters but were prevented by police.
Morsy’s constitutional declaration announced last Thursday has polarised the country over the sweeping new powers the president awarded himself. In some instances protests have devolved into violent clashes between pro- and anti-Morsy demonstrators.
