EGYPT: Presidential-hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei says moderate constitution should be on top of Egypt’s priorities
Record ID:
327654
EGYPT: Presidential-hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei says moderate constitution should be on top of Egypt’s priorities
- Title: EGYPT: Presidential-hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei says moderate constitution should be on top of Egypt’s priorities
- Date: 16th December 2011
- Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (DECEMBER 15, 2011) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ENTRANCE OF GAMAL ABDEL NASSER SECONDARY SCHOOL, WHERE POLLING TAKES PLACE ARMY PERSONNEL OUTSIDE POLLING STATION PRESIDENTIAL-HOPEFUL CANDIDATE MOHAMED ELBARADEI ARRIVING TO THE POLL SOLDIER OUTSIDE THE POLL ELBARADEI ON HIS WAY TO CAST HIS VOTES ELBARADEI ENTERING A POLL ELBARADEI REGISTERING HIS NAME PHOTOGRAPHERS ELBARADEI READING THE INSTRUCTION SHEET PHOTOGRAPHERS AND CAMERA CREWS AT WORK ELBARADEI CASTING HIS BALLOT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HOPEFUL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MOHAMED ELBARADEI, SAYING: "The most important for me is to draft a moderate constitution that all factions agree on. There are sorts of extremist points of views from all sides (Islamists and liberals) which make drafting this constitution a top priority." ELBARADEI GETTING INTO HIS CAR, LEAVING
- Embargoed: 31st December 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Egypt, Egypt
- Country: Egypt
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA8TAJSEW3ALPQQ3J6DC5ZIN248
- Story Text: The presidential-hopeful and former U.N. nuclear watchdog Chief Mohamed ElBaradei stood in line on Thursday (December 15) to cast his vote at Gamal Abdel Nasser School in Dokki district.
Egyptians returned to polling stations on Thursday in a phased election likely to give Islamists the biggest bloc in a parliament that will play a key role in drafting a new constitution after decades of autocratic rule.
The vote being staged over six weeks is Egypt's first free polls in six decades, after a series of rigged elections under Hosni Mubarak, who after almost 30 years in power was driven from office by a popular uprising in February.
While he was jostling to exit the poll station, ElBaradei told Reuters that he is so happy to cast his vote in a free Egyptian election for the first time in his life.
"The most important for me is to draft a moderate constitution that all factions agree on. There are sorts of extremist points of views from all sides (Islamists and liberals) which make drafting this constitution a top priority," he said.
Parliament will then have to appoint a 100-strong assembly to write a new constitution which will define the president's powers and parliament's clout in the new Egypt. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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