(DNE File Photo)
By: Mahitab Assran
Tamarod’s call for mass mobilisation and million man protest on 30 June was met with varying reactions from different political and popular factions.
Liberal opposition such as the 6 April and Kefaya movements have announced their support and participation on 30 June.
Abdel Ghaffar Shukr, Socialist Popular Alliance leader, told the Daily News Egypt that he supports the Tamarod Movement “as long as it maintains its peaceful methods and does not allow any form of violent interference from anyone”. He also added that Tamarod is a “legitimate movement that demands early presidential elections, which is constitutional using peaceful methods”.
The National Salvation Front and Al-Dostour Party also announced their “full support for Tamarod and will be present at the demonstrations on 30 June,” said Khaled Dawoud, spokesperson for the opposition front.
“This is not a democratic way to remove the president,” Khaled Al-Sherif, the Building and Development Party’s media spokesman, said. “The opposition is using the youth’s enthusiasm and energy for their advancement.”
He also added that this is “totally unacceptable. We want peace to be able to complete the revolution and fulfil its demands.” He added: “the simple citizen does not care as well. All he wants is practical, real improvement in his economic status.”
According to a spokesperson, the Salafi Al-Nour Party “will not participate in the protests on 30 June”.
“Tamarod uses peaceful methods to collect signatures,” the party spokesperson said, “but this is not democratic. The only democratic way to change a president is to vote for another one when his term has ended. While it is hard to wait [for Morsi’s term to end]; this is the only right way.”
“As long as the Tamarod demonstrations on 30 June are peaceful, then that’s good,” Freedom and Justice Party Spokesperson Murad Ali said. Regarding the demand to have early presidential elections he said: “This cannot be right, the constitution that people agreed upon stated that a president is changed by democratic elections every four years… How do you know that the 9.5 million signatures (collected by Tamarod) are authentic and that nobody signed twice or more?”
On Tuesday, Yasser Borhamy, vice-president of Al-Da’wa Al-Salafiya (Salafi Calling), said on Al-Tahrir Channel: “If millions of people like those who took to the streets during the 25 January Revolution really do come out on 30 June and demanded that the president resign, then I will ask him to resign”. However, “they have to be more than the 13 million who voted for him, which I doubt will happen.”
