Organisers of the anti-Morsi ‘Rebel’ campaign announced on Wednesday that the movement has succeeded in gathering 7,540,535 signatures in support of its goals.
The campaign, which officially began on 1 May, hopes to collect 15 million signatures by 30 June to register opposition to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and his policies and to demand snap presidential elections. The petition will be submitted to the prosecutor-general.
During a press conference on Wednesday held in Cairo, the movement also announced the official launch of its website.
Organisers of the campaign called on Egyptians and Egyptian political groups to join their call for a million-man march outside the presidential palace in Cairo on 30 June while holding red cards as a sign of protest, calling for an end to the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’s rule’ and to demand immediate presidential elections.
“Whoever wants the revolution to prevail must rebel; whoever wants to achieve bread, freedom and social justice must rebel. Let 30 June be a decisive day for the revolution,” said Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, one of the movement’s organisers.
More details on upcoming events prior to the end of June will be announced soon, added the movement.
The press conference was attended by several opposition figures such as lawyer Hamdi El-Fakharani, member of the National Salvation Front Hussein Abdel-Ghani, former MP Gamal Zahran and former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi.
On Saturday, when President Morsi was asked about the petition during a visit to Addis Ababa, he urged campaigners "not to forget the key principles of democracy."
"Some people say I barely got 52 percent of the vote in [last year's] presidential election [runoff against Mubarak-era PM Ahmed Shafiq]," Morsi said. "But legally and constitutionally, I am the legitimate president."
