(Photo by Ahmed Almalky/DNE)
Former Supreme Constitutional Court Judge Tahani Al-Gebali called Tamarod “an exceptional movement.”
Constitutional experts and law professors took part in a roundtable discussion on Wednesday to discuss the legal ramifications of Tamarod movement and its constitutionality.
Tamarod is a petition campaign gathering signatures to withdraw confidence in President Mohamed Morsi. The campaign is also calling for protests on 30 June against the current regime.
The roundtable event was organised by a recently launched political movement called the Movement to Defend the Republic. The discussion was moderated by the movement’s leader, Tahani Al-Gebali.
“The signatures represent the will of the people when the regime blocked every other route for change,” said Hafez Abu Se’da, director of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights.
He added that holding a referendum to decide if Morsi should remain president is not possible. “A referendum would mean the president is challenging the signatures gathered.”
Al-Gebali stated that the people have the right to confront any threat to national security, and the Muslim Brotherhood rule represented that threat.
“EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and US Ambassador Anne Patterson sit with Egyptian politicians behind closed doors and dictate to them what to do and what not to do,” Al-Gebali alleged.
Constitutional Expert Essam Al-Eslamboly said that Morsi lost his legitimacy when he annulled the constitutional declaration issued by the military. “Morsi became a president after taking an oath to respect the constitution and [SCAF’s] declaration was the constitution,” Al-Eslamboly said.
He added that protests scheduled on 30 June are only the beginning. “We have to continue until this regime falls.”
Experts at the roundtable agreed that the Tamarod signatures enable the people to invalidate the constitution, calling it a “second wave to the 25 January Revolution.”
