DHAKA: Egypt said Saturday a referendum on a new draft constitution will be held next month, the first step towards elected rule in a country deeply polarised after president Mohamed Mursi’s ouster.

‘I call upon you to vote in a referendum on the draft revised constitution on January 14 and 15,’ interim president Adly Mansour said in a speech to the nation, accompanied by high-ranking officials and those who drafted the new charter, reports The Straits Times.

The new constitution was drafted after the interim military-installed authorities suspended the previous charter written under the Islamist Mursi.

Egypt’s first democratically elected president was ousted by the army on July 3.

BDST: 2044 HRS, DEC 14, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor