Local Editor
Egyptian opposition set Tuesday as a deadline for President Mohammad Mursi to step down or he will face civil disobedience.
“We give Mohammad Mursi until 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Tuesday July 2 to leave power, allowing state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections,” the Tamarod movement said in a statement on its website. Otherwise, “Tuesday, 5:00 pm will be the beginning of a complete civil disobedience campaign.”
The movement’s statement urged state institutions to stand side by side with the protesters, saying “the army, the police and the judiciary to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds”.
Tamarod – Arabic for Rebellion – is a grassroots campaign which says it collected more than 22 million signatures declaring a lack of confidence in Mursi, who had been just one year in office after Husni Mubarak was toppled in similar protests.
Opposition leader Hamdeen Sabbahi, who came third in the 2012 presidential election, called for military intervention if Mursi refused to quit. “The armed forces must act, because they have always been on the side of the people” which “has expressed its will”, Sabbahi said. The best outcome would be for Mursi to go willingly, he added.
However, Mursi’s spokesman Ehab Fahmy told reporters: “Dialogue is the only way through which we can reach an understanding… The presidency is open to a real and serious national dialogue”.
Health ministry said 14 people were killed and over 400 were injured in first day of “June 30” which went in several provinces.
Source: Al Manar
