Social democratic party endorses FJP-led national salvation cabinet

The leftist party said in a Thursday statement that it rejects the Ganzouri cabinet for “failing to achieve security for citizens, and for being responsible for the massacre in Port Said,” referring to violent clashes in the city's football stadium last week that left over 70 dead and hundreds injured.

Brotherhood Deputy Supreme Guide Khairat al-Shater said Wednesday that the Brotherhood is ready to form a coalition government and rejects the current government headed by Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri.

However, according to the Interim Constitution issued by the ruling military council last March, the only authority capable of dismissing and forming a cabinet during the transitional period is the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Since the FJP won a near-majority of seats in the People's Assembly, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party welcomes its proposal to form a cabinet, said the statement.

The statement added that the proposed cabinet should take responsibility for running the country over the remainder of the transitional period. It also stressed the need for all political forces and parties to consult with one another and develop a clear plan for the new cabinet, delineating its powers and objectives to overcome this critical stage in Egyptian history.

The Democratic Alliance, the FJP-headed electoral list, holds over 46 percent of seats in the People's Assembly,and the list headed by the Salafi-oriented Nour Party has around 23 percent of the seats.

The FJP-dominated lower house has so far been content to place blame for insecurity on Ganzouri's interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim. Analysts say some Brothers fear demanding the expulsion of an incumbent premier could lead to a head-on collision with the SCAF ― a scenario the nation's oldest Islamist organization and its political wing seem determined to avoid.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm