The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) does not support calls for accelerating the transfer of power to a civilian government and insists on following the plan in which parliamentary elections will be followed by constitution drafting and then presidential elections in mid-2012, Saad al-Katatny, FJP secretary general, has said.
Activists and politicians hoping to speed up the transition have made two proposals. One is that the military hand over power to parliament after People’s Assembly elections are completed in January. The other is to hold presidential elections in April, earlier than originally planned, and allow the nomination of presidential candidates to begin on 25 January.
These proposals reflect activists’ desire to end military rule as soon as possible, but questions have been raised about their feasibility.
Following a meeting with Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, FJP head Mohamed Morsy and Katatny said their party has communicated with some political figures and blocs, but no agreements have been made regarding future alliances. The situation should be clearer by the middle of this week, he said.
Asked if Katatny will be nominated for the position of parliamentary speaker, Morsy said the matter is under consideration.
Katatny said that the parliament, government and Supreme Council of the Armed Forces are cooperating to achieve the demands of the revolution. He also said that he and Morsy met with Ganzouri to discuss legislation that the government and the FJP could propose in the near future.
Morsy said the FJP has an economic vision that conforms to the principles of Islamic Sharia and Article 2 of the current constitution, which states that Islam is the main source of legislation in Egypt.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
