By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: Rashad Bayoumi, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, told Daily News Egypt that the group and other opposition figures had represented the peoples’ demands to the government in a meeting held Sunday.
The group had stressed in a statement issued on Saturday, that they will uphold the protestors’ demands, including the President stepping down, the prosecution of those responsible for the violence during peaceful demonstrations, dissolving the rigged parliament, ending emergency law and forming a national transitional caretaker government.
“However, government officials said that the President should finish his term in order to
amend the constitution and implement reform before the coming elections.” Bayoumi
said. “But we will continue voicing the peoples’ demands.”
Bayoumi said that no agreements had been made between Vice President Omar Suleiman and the opposition figures and speculated that there will be more meetings to come.
The Muslim Brotherhood was first hesitant to start a dialogue with the government until President Mubarak stepped down. But according to leading member Ibrahim Mounir, in an interview with BBC Arabic on Monday, they decided to join to secure the country’s stability and security and avoid chaos.
Mohamed Habib, member of the Brotherhood’s executive bureau, told Daily News Egypt, “This demonstrates the confusion (within the Brotherhood) and a failure to understand the truth behind the government’s attempt to disperse the revolution.”
The group added that the protestors’ safety has to be secured and their freedom to hold peaceful demonstrations protected until their demands are met.
“We don’t want the revolution to be lost in false promises,” Mounir said. “The Brotherhood will continue to protest in the streets until the people’s demands are executed.”
The group also urged the government to stop the state media campaigns that are distorting the image of the people’s revolution and immediately release all political prisoners, especially those arrested in the recent protests.
Mounir said that the Brotherhood wants all opposition powers to join in the dialogue. Many parties including Al-Wafd and Al-Tagammu had already started dialogue with the government on Saturday.
The group had announced last week that they will not run in the presidential elections in September.
Mounir said that the alternative to the regime will be national not Islamist.
“The people and the new elected legitimate parliament will decide who will be their new leader,” Mounir said.
“The Brotherhood doesn’t want [the regime, opposition or the international community] to claim that the brotherhood only aspires power and presidency,” Habib said.
