CAIRO (AA) - A coalition of largely Islamist parties and figures supportive of ousted President Mohamed Morsi called on Tuesday for boycotting a 50-member committee tasked with approving amendments to Egypt's 2012 constitution, suspended last month by the military. The National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy "calls on Egypt's honorable men not to take part in the committee," the coalition said in a statement. The army-installed interim president, Adly Mansour, who replaced Morsi following the latter's July 3 ouster, is expected to soon name committee members who will be tasked with debating amendments proposed by a mini-panel earlier this month. The 50-member committee is expected to discuss the proposed amendments for two months before putting a draft constitution to a popular referendum. The pro-Morsi alliance criticized the proposed constitutional changes, saying they "open the door to the recreation of the former regime of Hosni Mubarak, which was toppled by the people." "The amendments stipulate a return to the kind of presidential system that produced the dictators who ruled us for long decades," the alliance asserted. It added: "One amendment places the military above the constitution by giving it the sole right to appoint the defense minister… which contradicts the principle of the civil state." The pro-Morsi coalition, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, called upon those nominated to join the panel "not to ruin their legacy by joining this farce to distort the post-revolution constitution." The statement came two days after the Salafist Nour Party announced its decision to join the 50-member committee, reversing an earlier decision to shun the panel. The party voiced its objection to the proposed removal of Article 219, which describes the "principles of Sharia" as "all proofs, jurisprudential bases and sources agreed on by Sunni schools."
"Egyptians will not give up their demands until the coup is reversed, the putschists are punished for their crimes against the people and democracy is restored," the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy said in a Tuesday statement.
Mahmoud Taha, a leader of the pro-Morsi alliance, said the Friday rallies -- to be dubbed "The People Regaining Their Revolution" -- would be joined by a wide spectrum of the Egyptian public.
"The issue is no longer about Morsi's reinstatement, but about the return of the former regime," said Taha, a leader of the Gamaa Islamiya's Building and Development Party, in reference to toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak was released from prison last week after a court accepted his appeal against corruption charges. He was later placed under house arrest at a military hospital in Cairo.
"The August 30 demonstrations will aim to revive the goals of the revolution," Taha said.
Morsi supporters have been staging daily rallies since the army ousted the country's first democratically elected president on July 3 after mass protests against his presidency.
Hatem Azzam, a leader of the moderate-Islamist Wasat Party and coalition member, said protesters on August 30 would not only be from the Muslim Brotherhood or from Egypt's Islamist trend.
"There will be a lot of people who participated in the January revolution [which toppled Mubarak in 2011] who don't want to go back to square one with the return of Mubarak and the military state," he said.
Azzam noted that protests "would continue nationwide in the days ahead, albeit in fewer numbers with the aim of reiterating our rejection of the coup."
Several of Morsi's opponents, however, have ruled out a large turnout for the planned Friday rallies.
"Neither we, nor revolutionary groups, will participate in the protests," Azazi Ali Azazi, a spokesperson for the anti-Morsi National Salvation Front, said.
He ruled out any "radical changes" to the Egyptian political scene on August 30.
"Nothing will happen on August 30. The protests are only a face-saving move for the international Muslim Brotherhood organization," Azazi said, adding that protesters' numbers were already decreasing.
"I expect August 30 will be the end of the Brotherhood as an organization," he opined.
Hasan Shahin, a spokesperson for the Tamarod (rebellion) movement, which spearheaded the anti-Morsi protests that led to his ouster, also ruled out participation in the planned August 30 demonstrations.
Haitham al-Shawwaf, coordinator of the "June 30 Front," another virulently anti-Morsi group, thinks the planned August 30 rallies are part of "the Brotherhood's attempts to trigger chaos to justify foreign interference."
He said the front would not join Friday's protests even if "its goal was to revive the January 25 Revolution."
The ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party, too, declined calls to participate in Friday's planned rallies because "protests and counter-protests will lead to bloodshed."
"Our position remains unchanged. We refuse to protest on Friday because escalation on the ground will be confronted by a similar escalation by the State, which will not lead to resolving the crisis," Nour Party spokesperson Sherif Taha told the AA.
The April 6 Youth group (Ahmed Maher Front) also rejected calls for Friday protests.
"The movement rejects calls to take to the streets on August 30," group founder Ahmed Maher said, calling on political and revolutionary powers to stay home that day.
Maher also warned against using the August 30 protests as a "scenario for chaos in Egypt".
The April 6 Youth movement (Democratic Front) also rejected calls to join the planned protests.
"The movement will not take part in the Friday protests because members do not join the Brotherhood in any activity; they [the Brotherhood] are trying to deceive the people into believing that they are better than Mubarak," group spokesperson Mustafa al-Hajari told the AA.
He insisted his group did not have to choose between the Muslim Brotherhood and a reconstituted Mubarak regime.
"We remain against the Brotherhood, Mubarak and the military council," he said. "We will not give the Brotherhood a chance to use those who oppose Mubarak's return."
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