The cabinet announced Thursday in a statement that 14 and 15 January, when the referendum on the constitutional draft is scheduled to be held, are working days, while 13 January will be an official holiday to celebrate Al-Mawled Al-Nabawy (the Birth of Prophet Muhammad).
The cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Dr Hazem El-Beblawi, held a meeting to discuss the security procedures for the referendum, reported state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA).
In the cabinet meeting, preparations for the referendum, plans to secure it and a followup on the infrastructure projects that are to be executed were discussed.
On Wednesday night, political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) released a statement regarding the referendum. The statement commended the Egyptian people for protesting against the “putchist authorities” by boycotting the referendum on the constitutional draft. “The draft was created by appointed members to replace a constitution that the Egyptian people have chosen by a percentage of 65%, six months prior to their bloody coup”, FJP said in the statement.
The statement accused the current regime, referring to it as a “putchist authority”, of intending to forge the results of the referendum. According to the Brotherhood, “the government will forge the referendum, as it will disregard the secret ballot system; there are no voting lists, therefore, the process will not be monitored, allowing room for forgery.”
The Freedom and Justice Party concluded its statement by saying: “We are sure that the Egyptian people are on their way to bringing down the coup and will not settle for anything other than reviving the 25 January Revolution and fulfilling all its goals.”
The cabinet spokesman was not available for comment.
