Yasser Borhamy, head of the Salafi Dawah, accused liberals on Friday of causing the crisis over the Constituent Assembly to prevent Islamic movements from having a strong voice in the writing of the new constitution.
"The liberals want, using all means, to prevent Islamic political parties from having the higher voice while drafting the constitution, especially with regard to Article 2 related to the Islamic identity [of the state] and the Sharia," Borhamy said in a statement.
Borhamy added that liberals "resorted to undemocratic means to obstruct the formation of the assembly, through using media pressure to frighten people of Islam."
He stressed that "Salafis will call on the people to reject the constitution if it does not clearly state that Islamic Sharia will be applied."
"The people have the upper hand in drafting the constitution. Although Salafis are a minority in Parliament, they represent a majority in the street as they are the most influential [force] that can move the silent majority who trust the sheikhs more than others," he said.
The Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly, formed in March, was suspended by a court ruling on 10 April due to its lack of diversity.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, met on Sunday with representatives of nearly 20 parties and independent MPs to resolve the issues surrounding the assembly’s formation.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
