CAIRO: In a move aimed at “rekindling” Egypt's revolutionary spirit and stamping out corruption, opposition groups have announced that they will take to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to “fulfill the revolution.” The move comes as the country is set to see the first draft of the constitution, but secular and leftist groups are unhappy with the process, arguing that it will reflect only one side of Egypt's political sphere: the Islamists. According to a joint statement published on Saturday, 21 secular political parties and organizations will band together for the October 12 demonstration. According to the state-run al-Ahram newspaper, the groups include the Constitution Party led by Mohamed ElBaradie, the April 6 Movement Democratic Front, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Al-Tagammu Party and the Popular Current headed by Hamdeen Sabahi, who was third in last summer's presidential election. “We are going to continue to have our voices heard on the streets and bring people together,” April 6′s downtown Cairo Coordinator Ahmed Habashi told Bikyamasr.com The protest aims to voice their opposition to President Mohamed Morsi's policies, the Muslim Brotherhood – of which Morsi came out of – and the rise of the ultra-conservative Salafists, or Islamic puritans, who the activists and parties argue are taking too much power in the new constitution. It comes as tension is rising across the country. Doctors are on strike, teachers are protesting and the economic situation facing millions of Egyptians continues to worsen. The protest organizers aim to rekindle the revolutionary spirit that galvanized Egypt to remove the yoke of Hosni Mubarak in January 2011, and create what they say is “a country for all Egyptians.”
