Mohamed Morsy, president of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has rejected calls for expediting presidential elections and the power handover, saying his party adheres to the ruling military council's timeline for the transition period. “We adhere to it because the people voted for it in the March referendum of last year,” Morsy told the state-run Middle East News Agency on Sunday. In that referendum, voters approved amendments ─ drawn up by a judicial panel appointed by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ─ to the constitution. The military said then that it wanted to relinquish authority to an elected government as soon as possible. The referendum divided Egyptians between those who said the reforms would suffice and others who argued that the constitution needed a complete rewrite — something that would take place after legislative elections. “According to the map, the People's Assembly and the Shura Council will hold a joint meeting on 4 March to select the members of the constituent assembly that will write the Constitution,” he added. "The assembly spends between two and three months drafting a document, and then the new constitution will be put to a referendum,” he explained. “At the same time, the presidential elections will be held and a new president elected on 30 June." Egypt's military has faced pressure to speed up the transition period, and some revolutionary forces have called for staging civil disobedience starting 11 February to press the military rulers for swift presidential elections. "The FJP is developing a draft constitution to help the assembly with its mission," Morsy said, adding that the military council was granted legitimacy by the people the day Mubarak resigned on 11 February 2011, and that the old constitution, regime and Parliament were disbanded. “Our party is against any attempt to shake this legitimacy and create chaos," he added. "What difference does it make if the presidential elections are held on 23 February or 15 April?” Morsy said, emphasizing his rejection of a new constitutional declaration. “We also reject any kind of guardianship over the people by putting conditions or criteria on the selection of the constituent assembly members.”
