Egypt: Interior Minister Says Elections Should Be Postponed
By Ria Novosti
Egyptian interior minister said on Thursday that the November 28 parliamentary elections should be postponed, contrary to a previous statement by the ruling military council’s chairman, Al Jazeera reported.
Field Marshal Muhammed Hussein Tantawi, the chairman of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) which took power in February after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, earlier announced that the military had no interest in staying in power and that parliamentary elections scheduled to begin on November 28 would go ahead.
Mansour al-Essawy said he had sent letters to the government and SCAF members in which he doubts the advisability of elections amid the ongoing violent protests.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Revolutionary Youth Coalition (RYC) invited all political forces to join its activists in another Tahrir Square protest on Friday, the Al Ahram portal said on Thursday.
The portal said protestors would demand prosecution of security officers responsible for the death of protesters, regardless of their rank and position; creation of the “national salvation” government to run the country until presidential elections; and an Interior Ministry reform.
The April 6 youth movement said the protest, headlined “Friday of Justice for the Martyrs,” should gather about a million in response to the ongoing violence.
Activists continued their sit-in in the Tahrir Square on Wednesday evening, setting up small bonfires in an attempt to offset effects of lingering tear gas.
In a phone-in on the state TV, the interior minister dismissed reports of violence against protestors and the reported use of live ammunition by police while dispersing the protest. He blamed gunshot wounds on “people shooting from roofs of the American University in Cairo and other buildings,” Al-Masry Al-Youm said.
The rally would begin with a collective prayer in the memory of at least 35 people killed by police in the past five days.
Rallies demanding a speedy transition to democratically elected authorities began on Friday and turned violent on Saturday. Violent clashes between protestors and police continued throughout the weekend in Cairo and other cities, forcing the country’s entire cabinet to step down on Monday.
