The liberal Free Egyptians Party announced on Tuesday that it withdrew from the Egyptian Bloc, which includes the leftist Tagammu Party and the liberal Social Democratic Party.
In a statement, the party said it “will continue to call for consensus among the citizens of the nation and among all political forces, provided this does not affect the principles and values of the party or conflict with the national interest."
The party criticized the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, for announcing that it has agreed with other parties to appoint its secretary general, Saad al-Katatny, as speaker of the People’s Assembly, along with one deputy from the Wafd Party and another from the Salafi Nour Party.
Commenting on this, the statement said, “The party repeatedly stressed its rejection of any attempt to circumvent democracy and strike deals in the dark,” pointing out that such agreement should take place in parliament. It warned of following in the footsteps of the dissolved National Democratic Party. “We reject the distribution of gifts," the statement added.
“We will resist any attempts to monopolize the preparation of the constitution or the manipulation of parliament by a certain faction, irrespective of how many seats that faction has won, and we call for changing parliamentary bylaws, which make its speaker a tyrant who controls its path."
The Free Egyptians Party decided on 9 January not to take part in upcoming Shura Council elections and called for its cancellation. It attributed its boycott to a "lack of seriousness in addressing violations committed during the parliamentary elections, which have impacted their results."
