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| Africa North | ||
| El-Nour Party criticises Brotherhood protests | ||
| 2013-07-21 | ||
Egypt's Salafist El-Nour Party has criticised the Muslim Brotherhood's calls for deposed president Mohamed Morsi's reinstatement, saying it would be "impossible" for him to rule amid the fierce opposition he faces.
The party criticised the continuous protests against the new interim government, saying they carry a high potential of breaking into violence. Morsi supporters, led by the Brotherhood, have been staging marches and sit-ins across Cairo and other governorates against what they say was a "military coup" against the country's first democratically-elected head of state. Violence has erupted several times between the former president's supporters and those against him or security forces, leaving scores dead and hundreds injured. El-Nour Party, who chose a neutral stance in the lead-up of the 30 June protests that ousted Morsi, detailed in its latest statement its view on the current political strife.
It asserted that it should not withdraw in order to keep its views and interests, which are part of the Islamist current, present in the political arena. The party went on further to "completely reject" any "armed confrontation" with the military, saying it would lead to dangerous consequences and affect the country's regional security. The party also revealed part of its discussions with Morsi and the Brotherhood prior to 3 July. "When 'Rebel' [the anti-Morsi movement that spearheaded calls for his ouster] was launched and gained support, we warned that the chances that the military steps in are increasing," the statement said, "However, the Brotherhood insisted that this was impossible." "We called for changing the cabinet, not appointing any more Brotherhood members in the government and reconciling with the [opposing] institutions," it added. Several institutions clashed with the presidency, cabinet and parliament during Morsi's rule, most notably the judiciary that disputed many of the laws issued and ruled on controversial lawsuits such as the case on the legitimacy of Morsi's appointment of the prosecutor general. "But the [Brotherhood] denied that they were faced with anger from the masses and believed it was only limited to secular opposition forces." This, the party says, led to more anger from the people, especially that Morsi's last address did not offer any solutions to the strife, according to the statement. It said that Morsi and his government, led by ex-PM Hesham Qandil, failed to satisfy people's demands, which led to the current situation. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |