Egypt Presidency Seeks Serious National Dialogue with Opposition Parties, Movements

President Mohamed Morsi renewed his call for a serious national dialogue in order to end the transitional period, build a new and modern homeland and protect the fledgling democracy in Egypt.

The Presidency affirmed that, “Dialogue with all political forces is continuing persistently so as to reach a suitable formula to move on and achieve the constitutional and legislative stability all citizens are looking for, and also to start achieving the economic development sought by the Egyptian citizen.

In a statement Saturday, Dr. Yasser Ali, spokesman for the Presidency, said: “The Presidency respects all opinions. Freedom of opinion and expression is guaranteed for everyone.

Dr. Ali further said that, “Freedom of expression comes in the context of respect for others’ opinions. With regard to the Constituent Assembly (CA) tasked with writing the country’s new national charter, President Morsi did not intervene in any way in determining the timetable for its work, nor did he ever set for it a time-frame for the completion of the drafting of the constitution.

“The CA set its own approach and agenda. And when it saw that the articles of the new Constitution were ready, it put the whole document to a final vote and handed the President an official copy.”

Dr. Ali added, “As for calls amongst certain newspapers and satellite TV channels to ‘blackout’ Tuesday and Wednesday in protest at the Constitutional Declaration and the draft constitution, they may exercise their freedom of opinion and expression in any way they like, now that freedoms are almost unlimited, after the revolution. The scene is now totally different from past years. No need to worry, though. We just have to get used to this kind of democracy like never before.”