Archive for Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party

FJP to sue newspaper over sabotage, coup accusations

by admin
June 22nd, 2012

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said Friday that it intends to sue a privately-owned newspaper that accused the party of plotting to sabotage the country in case Mohamed Morsy is not declared the winner of the presidential election.

Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the FJP, said in a statement that he has asked the party’s legal committee to file a libel and defamation claim against the owner, chairman of the board and editor-in-chief of independent daily Al-Dostour.

Erian said that the newspaper’s report was “all lies” and relied on information that “does not exist except in the minds of those who aim to tarnish the image of the party and its leaders.”  

The newspaper “adopted the same policies used against the Muslim Brotherhood and the honest people of this country by the former regime through its security apparatuses,” Erian added.

Erian called on the media to be objective and accurate when quoting FJP leaders and to consider the interests of Egypt before publishing stories that are designed to distort honorable men.

Al-Dostour reported on Thursday that the Brotherhood was planning the “massacre of the century in Egypt.”

The newspaper said that it had received “the minute details of an emergency meeting between the leaders of the Freedom and Justice Party.”

The newspaper accused the FJP of developing a plan to sow chaos if the Presidential Elections Commission did not announce that Morsy is the winner. It alleged that, “A trained group of Brothers will incite young people in demonstrations against Ahmed Shafiq so they will be shot by snipers in Tahrir Square, Abbasseya, Mostafa Mahmoud in Mohandiseen and Dokki.”

It added that the Brotherhood “will order Bedouin groups to attack checkpoints in Sinai to facilitate the entry of Hamas members and Iranian revolutionary guards to help them stage a coup against the armed forces and the president.”

Al-Dostour alleged that the plan includes “the murder of 200 public figures in several governorates at the same time in order to provoke fear and panic.”

 

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Military council should postpone election, says ElBaradei

by admin
June 14th, 2012

Mohamed ElBaradei, founder of the Constitution Party, on Thursday called upon the military council to postpone the presidential election in order to address the repercussions of the Supreme Constitutional Court’s rulings that found both the Political Isolation Law and the law governing the parliamentary elections unconstitutional.

The Political Isolation Law would have stripped members of former President Mubarak’s regime, including former Prime Minister and current presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, of their political rights. On Thursday, the Supreme Constitutional Court found the law unconstitutional, and Shafiq will still run in the final round of the presidential election against the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Morsy on 16 and 17 June.

The court also annulled some articles of the law organizing the parliamentary elections that ended last March. The ruling would cause the dissolution of the People’s Assembly, which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party with 47 percent of the seats.

ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Twitter, “To the military council: I call upon you to postpone the elections to contain the repercussions of the situation and for all of us to consult over the best paths to take the nation to safety.”

Two solutions would get Egypt out of the current stalemate, ElBaradei wrote on Twitter. The first solution would be an agreement on a presidential council to form a Constituent Assembly to draft the constitution, and to form a national salvation government, he said. The second solution would be to elect a temporary president and a salvation government to form a committee to draft the constitution, and then hold parliamentary and presidential elections after the constitution has been drafted.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Shafiq hails Supreme Court verdict as start of new era

by admin
June 14th, 2012

The Supreme Constitutional Court’s (SCC) ruling that the Political Isolation Law is unconstitutional adds to the legitimacy of the electoral process and proves that the era of politically-motivated laws is over, said presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq in a televised press conference on Thursday.

“The era of settling accounts, writing laws that target specific people and using state institutions to achieve private goals is over,” he said.

The SCC issued a verdict on Thursday against the constitutionality of the Political Isolation Law that was passed by Parliament. The law deprives members of the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak from practicing their political rights, including Shafiq, who was Mubarak’s last prime minister.

The court also ruled to annul the Parliamentary Elections Law. This verdict would dissolve the People's Assembly, which is currently dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, which holds 47 percent of the seats.

Shafiq will face the Freedom and Justice Party’s presidential candidate, Mohamed Morsy, in a runoff on 16 and 17 June.

Voters should “decide [through voting] on the destiny of their country” this weekend, said Shafiq. He said that the armed forces and the police will protect the election, which will be subject to local and international supervision to guarantee its fairness.

Shafiq pledged to represent the youth in Parliament by lowering the age of candidacy and not confronting opponents or protesters because of their views.

Shafiq also said that he will establish a civilian state based on the rights of citizenship and equality regardless of religion or ethnicity. He also promised a balance between all authorities, including the executive branch of the government that he would lead if elected president. Shafiq said he advocates a government based on experience, a police force that respects human rights, an independent judiciary free from interference by other authorities and a parliament that represents all segments of Egyptian society.

Egypt will enter a new era of national agreement in spite of attacks against him and political campaigns trying to influence voters against him, said Shafiq.

Shafiq thanked those who voted for him in the first round of the election, as well as members of his campaign for the pressures they have endured.

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Shafiq faces fresh accusations in Battle of the Camel

by admin
June 11th, 2012

The Alliance of Egyptian Revolutionaries sent a complaint to Public Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud on Monday against former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq for his role in the killing of protesters during the 25 January revolution, accusing him of hiding information about the Battle of the Camel and covering up for its perpetrators.

Shafiq will compete against Mohamed Morsy, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, in the presidential runoff on 16 and 17 June.

The complaint claimed that on 4 June 2012, Shafiq told Khairy Ramadan that he had information about the crimes committed against the revolutionaries, especially in the Battle of the Camel, which had not been presented to the investigating judge.

The group said that Shafiq became confused when Ramadan asked him why he did not divulge such information, and then accused the Muslim Brotherhood and “those with beards” of killing the demonstrators in that battle.

“This did not happen, for we were present and we defended the demonstrators from the thugs,” the Alliance of Egyptian Revolutionaries wrote in the complaint. “And we accuse him [Shafiq] of complicity in that crime.” Attached to the complaint was a CD with video footage of the program with Ramadan.

Assailants riding camels and horses attacked protests against former President Hosni Mubarak on 2 February last year, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens. The attack became known as the Battle of the Camel.

On Saturday the judge presiding over the Battle of the Camel trial summoned Shafiq, head of the Central Command Zone General Ahmed al-Roweiny, and three TV talk show hosts to testify, responding to requests by the defendants’ lawyers.

Shafiq did not appear in court Monday to testify in the case, in which 24 former officials and businessmen stand trial for allegedly plotting the bloody attack in Tahrir Square last year.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Wafd: Parties agree to allocate half of Constituent Assembly to FJP, Nour

by admin
June 11th, 2012

Parties have agreed to allow the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi-oriented Nour Party to hold 50 percent of the constitution-writing committee’s seats, Wafd Party chief Al-Sayed al-Badawy has said.

The seats of parties that withdraw from the Constituent Assembly would be redistributed if they officially announce their refusal to participate, Badawy said at a press conference Sunday after a meeting for political groups.

Other civil groups are represented by the remaining 50 percent of seats, Badawy said, adding that Al-Azhar, the Coptic Orthodox Church and the judiciary were classified as civil.

The Tagammu, Free Egyptians and Democratic Egyptian parties each rejected the categorization of Al-Azhar, the moderate Islamist Wasat Party and the judiciary as civil forces for the assembly’s makeup.

Six seats would be redistributed if representatives of the Karama and Socialist Popular Alliance parties officially withdraw from the assembly in rejection of religious parties’ number of seats, Badawy said.

He said the political groups would meet Monday to make a final decision about redistributing the six seats between women and Copts.

FJP member Osama Yassin said the party hopes those that withdrew would return to the assembly, adding that they had reached a semi-final decision about its makeup.

A court ruling had previously dissolved the original formation of the Constituent Assembly, saying it was not representative of all Egyptians because it was dominated by Islamists, after secularist members withdrew. But after another round of negotiations on the makeup, the issue appeared to be solved when the ruling generals and political parties agreed that Islamists would hold half of the assembly seats.

MP Emad Gad of the liberal Free Egyptians Party said his group and others met Sunday to discuss their nominees for Tuesday's panel selection when the new dispute arose.

"We were talking about the division of seats between secular and Islamists as 50–50. Then we were surprised to find that all 50 were just for the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis," he told The Associated Press.

A source close to the political parties' meeting told the privately owned Al-Shorouk newspaper that the ruling military council insists on allocating three seats to the 10 parties affiliated to the disbanded National Democratic Party. The parties include the Union, Egyptian Citizen, Freedom, Egypt National and Arab-Egyptian Union parties.

The source added that Ghad al-Thawra Party chief Ayman Nour is currently talking with the 10 parties to agree on their representatives.

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Parliament to re-attempt forming constituent assembly

by admin
June 9th, 2012

Egypt will try again on Tuesday to set up an assembly to write a new constitution, the parliamentary speaker said on Saturday. 

Discussions over the make-up of the constituent assembly have been in deadlock since April, when a court ordered the dissolution of a first, short-lived version because it was dominated by Islamists and failed to fairly properly represent Egypt's diverse society.

"We have invited the elected members of parliament to a joint meeting at 11 am on Tuesday … to elect a 100-member assembly to prepare a new constitution for the state," Parliamentary Speaker Saad al-Katatny said.

"All the political parties and powers have agreed that a full balance and representation of all powers and interests will be taken into consideration while forming the assembly," he added.

Katatny heads the parliamentary committee in charge of choosing the assembly's members. Before become speaker he was secretary of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, the party with the largest presence in a Parliament dominated by Islamists.

Katatny asked public institutions, courts, syndicates and religious bodies on Friday for their nominations for the new assembly.

The new constitution is expected to define the president's powers and citizens' rights. The delay in picking the panel has left Egypt in a constitutional vacuum, while the final stage of the presidential election is set for June 16-17.

The military council that took over after Hosni Mubarak was toppled last year has promised to hand over to a newly elected president by 1 July, but it is unclear what authority the new head of state will have.

On Tuesday the military council gave political parties a 48-hour deadline to agree on the make-up of the new constituent assembly.

Parties indicated during a meeting with the military council on Thursday that the assembly would be made up of 39 members of political parties and 61 public figures, including union members, lawyers, judges and religious leaders.

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Katatny: Lawmakers will cooperate if court orders dissolution of Parliament

by admin
June 9th, 2012

Parliamentary Speaker Saad al-Katatny has confirmed that the People’s Assembly will respect the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court if it orders the dissolution of Parliament.

Speaking to a press conference on Saturday, Katatny said the Parliament will not interfere in the judiciary's affairs, but carefully study the upcoming verdict of the SCC.

On 14 June, two days before Egypt's presidential runoff election, the SCC will examine the legality of the electoral rules used for the parliamentary election, which was staggered from November to February,

The case was brought to SCC by an administrative court that said in February it had found legal flaws in the elaborate voting system that were unconstitutional.

The system allocated two-thirds of parliamentary seats to political parties and the rest to individuals who were supposed to be independent of any party.

These rules, however, did not stop parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party from contesting the individual seats.

The administrative court judge said political parties should not have been allowed to run for the seats reserved for individuals. He also said half rather than a third of the seats should have been apportioned to individuals.

In the same session, the court will also examine the legality of a law challenging the right of Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister, to seek the presidency.

Defending lawmakers

Katatny organized the press conference in response to harsh criticisms Ahmed el-Zend, head of Egypt’s Judges Club, made against the lawmakers last week.

Zend said their comments on the verdicts in the trial of the former president constitute an interference in judiciary affairs.

On 2 June, in the first trial of a leader toppled in the Arab uprisings, Mubarak was sentences to 25 years in prison for failing to stop the killing of protesters last year. Mubarak and his sons were found innocent of corruption charges, and senior Interior Ministry officials charged with killing protesters were also acquitted.

Pro-democracy campaigners weren’t satisfied with the verdicts and have been protesting since the announcement.

Lawmakers criticized the trial's presiding judge and the public prosecutors for failing to deliver justice.

Katatny asked Hossam Gheriany, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, to clarify the judiciary's position on Zend's comments, which Katatny called an assault on a legislature that has the genuine right to legislate. "It is the sole authority expressing the will of the Egyptian people,” Katatny said.

Katatny asserted that he respects the separation of powers and appreciates judges, saying he would not respond to what Zend said, but only point out that “All bills relating to the judicial authority were drafted by judges and advisors, former and current, and they are the same amendments demanded by Egypt’s Judges Club.”

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FJP boycotts SCAF meeting with 18 party representatives

by admin
June 5th, 2012

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces held a meeting on Tuesday with party chiefs and several independent members of Parliament to review recent political developments.

Eighteen party representatives attended the meeting, presided over by SCAF head Hussein Tantawi, but the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party boycotted it.

The Salafi-oriented Nour Party sent two representatives, while the Wafd, Free Egyptians, Construction and Development, Karama, Freedom, Tagammu, Egyptian Citizen, Asala, Modern Egypt, Union, Socialist Arab, Justice, Democratic Peace, Generation, and Democratic Front parties sent one each.

Four independent MPs — Mostafa Bakry, Maryan Kamal, Yasser al-Qady and Mohamed Abou Hamed — were also in attendance.

Sami Anan, chief of staff of the armed forces and vice head of the ruling military council, as well as several other SCAF members, attended the meeting.

Edited translation from MENA

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Committee approves new liberal party founded by MP

by admin
June 4th, 2012

A judicial committee approved Sunday the establishment of the liberal Freedom Egypt Party formed by independent MP Amr Hamzawy, state-run news agency MENA reported.

The Political Parties Affairs Committee, which is responsible for authorizing new political parties, said Hamzawy had presented the committee with formal notification about the party’s establishment after fulfilling the legal requirements and filing the necessary papers.

The Freedom Egypt Party is the newest liberal party, founded by a group of young, liberal Egyptians along with Hamzawy, who represents Heliopolis in Parliament.

The party principles focus on the right to a dignified life and equality for Egyptians regardless of color, gender or religious beliefs. It also calls for freedom and democracy.

Under the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, would-be parties rarely made it past the Political Parties Affairs Committee, which comprised Mubarak-appointed executives rather than judges. It consisted of the head of the Shura Council, Egypt’s upper house of Parliament, as well as the interior, justice and parliamentary affairs ministers, and three judges.

After the 25 January revolution, the law was changed so that its members were merely judicial figures. The committee has since approved about 40 political parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, the first political party to be legalized after the revolution.

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Parliamentary lawmakers slam Mubarak verdict as too soft

by admin
June 3rd, 2012

Parliamentary lawmakers lashed out at the judiciary Sunday, devoting that day’s session to commenting on the life sentence verdict issued against former President Hosni Mubarak.

MP Hussein Ibrahim of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party started the session by saying that all political forces inside Parliament had requested retribution for the souls of the [25 January revolution] martyrs and disclosure of the real culprits behind their deaths, adding that officials of the Mubarak regime who remain in power should be brought to account for blurring evidence in the case against the former leader.

“Parliament will not stop pursuing the real perpetrators,” he said. “They must be brought to a new trial.”

Ibrahim criticized Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abouelnaga for saying the judiciary’s verdicts must be respected. “She was a member of Mubarak’s regime that hid the truth,” he said.

MP Younis Makhyoun of the Salafi-oriented Nour Party called for applying one of the serious punishments stated in Islamic Sharia, called Had al-Haraba. The term refers to serious offenses that should be punished by death, crucifixion, or the cutting off of the hands or feet.

He said Mubarak and his former officials should be punished according to Had al-Haraba, describing them as a "gang" that spread corruption on Earth. He also called for them to be charged with treason before a revolutionary court.

“Those responsible for destroying evidence and burning and shredding the documents of the State Security Investigation Services must be brought to trial,” he said, warning that Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib al-Adly, who also received a life sentence for the same charge, may later be acquitted.

Wafd Party MP Mahmoud al-Saqqa said the trial judge, Ahmed Refaat, first gave the impression he would give Mubarak the death penalty, but then deceived the Egyptian people.

“And he made legal and grammatical mistakes in his 32-minute speech,” Saqqa said, adding that the judge should have returned the case to the attorney general for further investigation if he saw that it did not contain sufficient incriminating evidence.

Mubarak and Adly were sentenced to life in prison on Saturday for their role in the killing of protesters during the 25 January uprising against Mubarak’s rule.

The court also acquitted six former security officials citing lack of evidence, a decision that has angered many Egyptians. Thousands have taken to the streets to protest the verdicts over the last two days, with some wanting a death sentence for Mubarak and others fearing weaknesses in the prosecution’s case could enable him to successfully appeal his life sentence.

“These convictions set an important precedent since just over a year ago seeing Hosni Mubarak as a defendant in a criminal court would have been unthinkable,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement on Saturday.

“But the acquittal of senior Ministry of Interior officials for the deaths and injuries of peaceful protesters leaves police impunity intact and the victims still waiting for justice,” he added.

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