CAIRO
Egypt's main pro-democracy coalition announced on Sunday boycotting a planned referendum on amendments to the country's suspended constitution.
In a statement, the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy called on Egyptians to boycott the mid-January vote due to "political, legal and rights" concerns.
The alliance also accused the interim authorities of seeking to rig the referendum.
The current regime "is trying to undermine the January 25 Revolution," said the statement read out by Amr Farouq, a leading figure of Wasat Party, during a press conference, referring to the 2011 uprising that ended the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak.
The upcoming vote, slated for January 14 and 15, is the first phase of a roadmap imposed by the army after its July 3 ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi.
The plan also includes parliamentary and presidential elections sometime next year.
The alliance said the suspended 2012 constitution cannot be amended now while this country suffers deep political polarization, noting that the amendments introduced to the constitution give the interim president major powers to issue laws and determine the representation of workers, farmers, women, youth and Christians in parliament.
"This ushers in a state of despotism," the alliance wrote in its statement.
The alliance said the interim authorities did not explain what will happen if the majority of voters rejected the draft constitution, alleging the failure of the authorities to answer questions in this regard proves that they plan to rig the vote.
Several government officials repeatedly outlined the government's commitment to holding a transparent vote and opened the door for civil society organizations would to monitor the whole process.
Even with this, alliance leaders say they would continue to act peacefully against the new charter.
"The alliance has always acted peacefully," said Nasreddin Allam, the acting chairman of Gama Islamiya's Construction and Development Party. "We will continue to do this on the two days of the referendum," he added.
Secretary General of the Independence Party Magdi Qurqur said a 'Yes' vote in the constitution would automatically mean approval of what he called the military coup against Morsi.
He said the European Union had put pressure on the alliance leaders to participate in the referendum, but they rejected the proposal.
By Islam Tawfiq
englishnews@aa.com.tr
