Tamarod Suspends Membership of Leaders in Constitution Committee

Egypt’s Tamarod (Rebel) movement announced on Thursday that leaders Mahmoud Badr and Mohamed Abd El-Aziz are no longer members of the group following their appointment to the constitutional committee.

“Out of our belief in democracy and transparency, the Tamarod Movement announces the separation of Mahmoud Badr and Mohamed Abd El-Aziz both administratively and organisationally from the movement,” the group stated on Facebook.

“This came upon their request, as they are now members of the constitutional committee and have an official status.”

The group expressed hope that Abd El-Aziz and Badr would return to Tamarod shortly after they finish their duties with the committee. It also made clear that Tamarod will make separate, independent statements, to be announced by its political office through members Hassan Shahin, Mohamed Heikal and Mai Wahba.

Badr and Abd El-Aziz were recently appointed to a 50-member constitutional committee, which, formed last week, is responsible for amending the 2012 constitution.  The 2012 constitution was suspended following former president Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in early July.

Tamarod began in May as a campaign aiming to “withdraw confidence” from Morsi by collecting 15 million signed petitions, exceeding the number of votes Morsi amassed in the runoffs of the 2012 presidential elections (13.2 million). By the end of June, Tamarod announced that they had collected 22 million petitions.

The campaign spearheaded calls for the massive 30 June demonstrations that eventually succeeded in ousting Morsi after the army intervened and deposed him on 3 July.

Tamarod members have participated in the transitional roadmap that the interim government implemented through constitutional decree on 8 July.

Source: Ahram Online