Some of the Tahrir Square protesters’ demands are illegitimate, and some mistaken, said presidential hopeful Mohamed Selim al-Awa.
In an interview on Dream 2 satellite channel on Sunday, Awa called on protesters to end their sit-in and stage renewed protests if certain demands are not met.
Awa said it is legitimate to call for swifter trials of former officials, but that he advocates public, fair trials. He added that court rulings should be debated by specialized experts, not ordinary people.
He emphasized the need to "cleanse" the interior ministry, but described the demand for a new constitution before elections as illegitimate, saying it contradicts the will of the majority who voted in the March referendum on constitutional amendments.
"We won’t regard the public as sacred, we have to tell them they are mistaken when they are," he went on. "We should not woo the public at the expense of justice."
Awa said former Vice President Omar Suleiman exerted utmost effort to meet the demands of the protesters when Hosni Mubarak was still in power. "However, he did not succeed and Mubarak did not listen to him at the time," he said.
Protesters in Tahrir started an open ended sit-in on Saturday to call for swifter trials of police officers and officials accused of killing protesters and squandering public funds. They also call for purging the political scene of pro-Mubarak figures.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
