Cairo: The newly elected Egyptian parliament
should "immediately" elect an interim president to preside
over the remaining transitional period to pave the early
withdrawal of military rule, key dissident leader Mohamed
ElBaradei has said.
The former IAEA chief pitched for the newly elected
"parliament to elect an interim president immediately",
followed by the formation of a panel to draft a new
constitution.
The proposal outlined on Twitter, was a part of a
five-point initiative, designed to shorten the transitional
period and facilitate the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed
Forces' withdrawal from government.
ElBaradei, who was at the forefront of the January 25
revolution, also wrote that elections for the upper house of
Parliament, the Shura Council, would be a huge waste of time
and money.
"The Shura Council does not have any power and most
likely will be cancelled in the new constitution," he said.
Government authorities have scheduled Shura Council
elections to be held in two phases, on January 29 and 30 and
February 14 and 15. Runoffs for the first stage are scheduled
for February 7 and the second stage for February 22.
"The logical sequence in the coming period should be: the
People's Assembly selects an interim president, forms a
constituent assembly to draft the new constitution, [and] the
new constitution determines the political system and ensures a
civil state, rights and freedoms," ElBaradei wrote.
ElBaradei concluded his initiative by writing: "After one
year of confusion, it's time to agree on correcting the path.
"Ball now in parliament court to implement rev goals eg
laws re independent judiciary & media, military
trials,emergency law. Time to deliver."
ElBaradei's initiative is similar to the demands of many
young revolutionaries who are now demanding the SCAF turn over
power to the Freedom and Justice Party's Saad al-Katatny, the
newly elected speaker of the People's Assembly, which is the
only elected authority in Egypt at the moment.
The SCAF has repeatedly stressed it will hand over power
to a civilian government after presidential elections, or by
June 30 at the latest.
Some revolutionaries doubt the military rulers' pledge to
leave power, citing the slow pace of reforms enacted during
the transitional period.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 27, 2012, 22:38