CAIRO: Young members of the leftist Tagammu Party announced their support for Mohamed ElBaradei and declared that they joined the National Coalition for Change.
A statement signed by 200 members from 10 governorates read, “Since our party was established in 1976, it has always been at the forefront of the national call for democracy, freedom for the people and bread for the poor . This party paves the way for serving and developing this country, and Egypt s interests are always above the party s interest. The party was established to serve Egypt and not vice versa. We can t [disregard] what s happening now on the political arena in Egypt as a party whose leaders paid a price in the fight for freedom, the statement continued, “the political activity in Egypt now, which is considered the fruit of years of struggle and which ElBaradei has influenced, has to be planned behind a national figure that can lead the country through this transitional phase to safety after changing the constitution and implementing real democratic rule.
Mohamed Taher, one of the members who signed the statement from Qaliubiya, told Daily News Egypt, We signed the statement because we believe in the necessity of uniting all political forces in the battle for change, we consider ElBaradei s entry into the political arena a historical opportunity that everyone should use to realize the public’s demands, which are the same as ElBaradei s.
Sayed Abdel Aal, Secretary General of the party, doesn’t consider the young members’ participation in ElBardei s campaign a deviation from the party’s direction .
He said: The support for ElBaradei s campaign is in line with the party s objectives, we adopt the same demands that ElBaradei announced and we invited him to talk, but we haven t received a reply from him yet.
He added that the party supports all movements calling for political change and reform.
“That s why some of our members join other opposition movements as individuals not as representatives of the party, which doesn t contradict with their membership in the party, he added.
The statement further read, We confirm our support for any candidate, backed by all the national forces for the upcoming presidential elections, be it ElBaradei or any other respectable Egyptian candidate.
There have to be constitutional amendments before the nomination of any respectable Egyptian candidate to guarantee the integrity of the election process and equality between all candidates, the statement said.
