After a meeting on Monday with Shura Council President Safwat el-Sherif, opposition Democratic Front Party President Ossama el-Ghazali Harb said he was against the government appointing members to the council.
“I turned down El-Sherif’s offer to appoint me to the council since I boycotted the Shura elections,” he said, asserting that membership should be determined by the ballot box.
“All political forces must rise to the challenge and must prepare for the future,” Harb declared, adding that he would not stand in next year’s presidential elections either.
“No one in his right mind would run in these elections under the current distorted circumstances,” he said.
The Shura Council is the upper, consultative house of Egypt’s parliament.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
