France : Morsi should listen to legitimate questions about his changes

A senior French official said here on Wednesday that France has no intention in interfering in Egyptian affairs but the Egyptian leadership should listen to legitimate questions about initiatives by President Mohammed Morsi. Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said that Paris believed "it is not up to French authorities to dictate its views to President Morsi (but)... that being said, legitimate questions are being expressed by numerous Egyptians on the process and the (president's) text itself." Lalliot said that these questions "deserve to be heard" because Morsi's proposals and the way they are to be adopted "engage the future of Egypt." The spokesman said that "dialogue, the spirit of compromise and the refusal of violence must prevail." Opponents to Morsi, inside and outside the political arena, say that his proposed modifications to the Constitution would lead to a concentration of powers in the hands of the president and sideline other institutions like the judiciary and law makers. "It is essential that the constitutional process that is ongoing draws upon the universal values of the State of Laws and democratic principles in the name of which the Egyptian revolution took place," the French official noted.