• 09:49
  • Friday ,11 January 2013
العربية

Facing dissent from within, Egypt’s Constitution Party holds internal polls

By-Ahram

Home News

00:01

Friday ,11 January 2013

Facing dissent from within, Egypt’s Constitution Party holds internal polls
Egypt's liberal Constitution Party has announced that it began internal party elections after last month's constitutional referendum. Some party members, however, have continued to demand the resignation of certain unelected party officials.
"We are already done with internal elections for members of the party's higher committee in seven governorates of Egypt and will finish the rest within the coming week," Sameh Makram Ebeid, Constitution Party organisational secretary, told Ahram Online.
 
Meanwhile, for the fifth day in a row, some 200 party members continued their sit-in at Constitution Party headquarters in Cairo to protest recent decisions by party chief Mohamed ElBaradei and demand the resignation of party spokesman Waleed El-Sheikh.
 
Protesters are also demanding the resignation of Ebeid and party secretary-general Emad Abu Ghazi.  
 
Protesters say they are not opposed to the party leadership, only to appointed figures whose recent decisions they describe as "inconsistent and unprofessional."
 
The latest developments come after ElBaradei reshuffled the party's steering committee on Sunday and made changes to the party's internal structure in advance of Egypt's upcoming parliamentary polls.