Egypt's Tamarod campaign has attacked the Third Square, an activist breakway group against the rule of both the Muslim Brotherhood and the army.
The initiative, led by the Strong Egypt Party and leftist groups such as the Revolutionary Socialists and the 6 April Youth Movement, rejects the 26 July demonstrations supporting the military-led roadmap as well as the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in launched by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy.
According to Tamarod spokesperson Hassan Shaheen, the Third Square is an attempt to divide Egypt and its revolutionary forces.
“Describing the 30 June protests as a coup is a lie because Egyptians were the ones who imposed their will when millions demonstrated like never before," he said.
Shaheen told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the initiative is an attempt to thwart gains made by the Egyptian people, achieved by overthrowing the Brotherhood and setting the roadmap.
He criticized the call made by the Strong Egypt Party, headed by former Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, to hold a referendum.
“The revolution and its gains will not be put to a referendum," Shaheen stressed. "We [Tamarod] will support the transitional government and the Egyptian army through the current period and to confront any violence or terrorism.”
The 6 April Youth Movement meanwhile said the army does not a mandate to protect Egyptians and fend off potential violence. This is its duty according to the law and constitution, the group claimed.
“All the Egyptian people are already against terrorism,” the movement said in a statement released on Saturday.
Army chief and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for mass protests on 26 July to give the army a mandate to confront "violence and potential terrorism" in the wake of Morsy's overthrow earlier this month.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
