In a speech to the Egyptian people commemorating the birth of the Prophet, interim President Adly Mansour called on all Egyptians to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming national referendum on Egypt’s draft constitution, which will take place January 14 and 15.

The public referendum marks the next step in Egypt’s roadmap to democracy and comes after the Committee of 50 – a group representative of a broad cross-section of Egyptian society – approved the amended Constitution unanimously.

A press release with key excerpts of interim President Mansour’s speech is included below and a fact sheet about the draft constitution is attached.

We look forward to an ongoing dialogue with you. Please do not hesitate to be in touch if the Embassy can be a resource to you in your reporting.

Embassy of Egypt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 13, 2014

President Mansour delivers a Speech to the Egyptian People commemorating the Birth of the Prophet

In a speech commemorating the birth of the Prophet (al-Mawlid al-Nabawi), President Adly Mansour encouraged the people of Egypt to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming referendum on Egypt’s Constitution on January 14th and 15th.

“I call on you to live up to the responsibility you owe to your nation and to ensure a better future for this country to go to your polling station and vote,” said President Mansour, adding:

“Let us all go out and vote with the same fervour we showed on January 25, 2011 and on June 30, July 3rd and July 26, 2013 and continue the revolutionary path we have chosen, with a constitution that would act as a springboard for a modern democratic and civil state.”

This week, Egyptians across the country will have the opportunity to cast a historic vote on their constitution in a national referendum. The draft Constitution was completed through an amendment process that was the most transparent and inclusive in Egypt’s history. This historic Constitution provides Egypt, for the first time, with unprecedented guarantees for individual freedoms and gender equality, establishes a political system based on the separation and balance of powers, provides civilian oversight of Egypt’s military as well as lays the foundation for a truly inclusive and accountable political system, a democratically elected Parliament and President, and the foundations for a new rule of law.