Alexandria's Salafis, the largest segment of the Islamist group in Egypt, lambasted calls for a new constitution before parliamentary elections scheduled for September. Several political groups in Egypt are demanding that the September vote be called off. They have launched a campaign seeking signatures supporting the postponement of the election until a constitution is formulated. A million-man protest has been planned for July to press the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to yield to the demand. Salafis started to emerge on Egypt's political scene following the resignation of former President Hosni Mubarak, who, the group says, had persecuted it for decades, though the movement did not formally take part in the 25 January revolution. On 12 June, Alexandria Salafis won approval from authorities for their new political party, the Nour Party. "Nobody has the right to talk on behalf of the people," the group said in a statement on Tuesday. "We have 85 million Egyptians, and none of those mandated political groups or even the prime minister himself to talk on their behalf." The group described the signature-gathering campaign as "unconstitutional, especially after the referendum," adding that "no one is allowed to get around public will." The statement also said, "Egyptians will not remain silent on attempts by an irrelevant elite to impose a liberal secular constitution on the people." Salafis warned that yielding to the will of the minority would represent a violation of the March referendum results, adding that such a move will strip the ruling military council and the government of their legitimacy, plunge the country into chaos and cause the economy to collapse. A majority of voters approved amendments to the country's 1971 Constitution during the referendum, including a stipulation that a panel selected by the Parliament elected in September would draft the new constitution. But liberal and secularist factions fear Islamist groups, the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, will take over the next Parliament along with remnants from the former ruling National Democratic Party. They want the elections postponed, not only to draft a new constitution first, but also to give themselves the opportunity to prepare for the contest.
