Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya logo and its Building and Development Party logo

(VOVworld)- Leading Islamist group Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya announced Saturday its decision to boycott the coming constitutional referendum on 14-15 January. In a statement, the group said that it will launch a campaign to urge people to boycott the vote, arguing that the constitution “has been drafted by a non-elected secular minority that seeks to marginalise Islamic identity and the role of the Islamic sharia as well as to get rid of all moral restrictions and the traditions of the Egyptian family and establish a military oppressive state.” The Salafist Front has announced that it will boycott the national referendum on the draft constitution due next month -- a move that puts it at odds with the Salafist Call and its political arm, the Nour Party. One of the largest Salafist associations in the Middle East, the front released a statement on Saturday saying that the amendments made to the national charter by the outgoing 50-member committee do not express the will of all Egyptians.