Opposition leader calls on the West to support democratic transition in Egypt

The leader of Egypt’s opposition Al-Ghad Party, Dr Ayman Nour, has called on Western countries to support democratic change in Egypt.

In an article published in the Washington Post, former presidential candidate Nour said that Egypt fell on Tuesday into a constitutional crisis after the government of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced that a majority of Egyptians approved constitutional changes. The figure of nearly 90 support during a three-day referendum held on 19-21 April was announced despite clear signs that the results were manipulated.

Dr Nour added that not long after the results were made public, Al-Sisi declared that he will renew the state of emergency for another three months. The President of the Republic, alleged Nour, has repeatedly found excuses not to end the emergency, in order to silence the opposition.

READ: Egypt extends state of emergency for additional 3 months

He also accused Al-Sisi of falsifying the Presidential elections results as well as the referendum by suppressing the opposition campaigns against the constitutional amendments and blocking nearly 34,000 websites via which the Egyptian people could have signed a petition rejecting the proposed changes. Nour insisted that the voter turnout announced by the government were inaccurate, claiming that the true turnout was less than 7 per cent within Egypt and no more than 2.5 per cent abroad.

The opposition leader concluded by reminding the West that it risks the stability of the most overcrowded countries in the Arab world, pointing out that the same forces that preceded the fall of President Hosni Mubarak exist today. “Instead of waiting for change,” he added, “the West must now seek a democratic future for Egypt, for the sake of Egypt as well as the rest of the world.”