Islamists have slammed Dostour Party head Mohamed ElBaradei after he called for a boycott of the upcoming parliamentary elections, describing it as going against popular will.
On Saturday, ElBaradei called for a boycott of the House of Representatives elections on Twitter, saying the move was meant to "expose sham democracy."
The opposition, led by the National Salvation Front, had criticized the parliamentary election law which was passed by the Shura Council last week, saying it distributed seats unfairly and did not guarantee the integrity of elections.
Freedom and Justice Party vice president Essam al-Erian said that boycott calls were an attempt to "escape popular selection" and were an attempt to take over executive power without democratic authorization.
“Since the eruption of the revolution, several appreciated persons [have imposed] themselves on the political scene as members of the presidential council or heads of salvation governments, though [they never] stood for elections or underwent serious tests," Erian said in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Mohamed al-Beltagy, a senior FJP leader, described calls for boycotting the elections as "comedy."
On the FJP website, Beltagy said in a statement Saturday that the same parties had called for early presidential elections, a delayed referendum and a change in government, only to refuse all of those demands when they were met in a democratic manner.
Muslim Brotherhood Spokesperson Ahmed Aref told Al-Masry Al-Youm that President Mohamed Morsy’s call for elections is constitutional, saying that they will resume the establishment of state institutions and that any delay would push the country into a series of crises.
Shaaban Abdel Aleem, assistant secretary of the Salafi-oriented Nour Party, accused the National Salvation Front of leading a counter-revolution against Morsy and the democratic transition.
Abdel Aleem added that the opposition should acknowledge the will of the people and not "waste time."
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
