The National Association for Change (NAC) said on Wednesday they support the judges and prosecutors who refuse to co-operate with the Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdullah. The
NAC demanded in a statement that people reject Abdullah’s legitimacy on the grounds that his position was attained illegally.
“The basis of democracy is the separation of powers and not the predominance of any authority over the other,” the NAC statement read, adding that respect for public liberties and freedom of the press is also a cornerstone of democracy.
Wael Nawara, a member of the NAC, said that the call for a demonstration extends beyond support for the judges and prosecutors. He said there is a need to reclaim certain demands made during the revolution, such as the need for an independent judiciary.
Nawara said: “We have had a lot of reservations about the way in which the former prosecutor general worked, but we do not believe the right answer is to undermine the independence of the judiciary.”
He said President Mohamed Morsy should not have intervened in the judiciary, adding that the president especially should abide by the law and any issues the judiciary faces should be handled internally.
“The Muslim Brotherhood has almost all the power in their hands, in almost every sense, their Guidance Bureau is controlling the country and we know many legislators and members of the Shura Council now take their orders from them.”
To the NAC, the centralisation of power in the hands of the brotherhood—which in turn is controlled by its three top-ranking members— is a dangerous situation: “The democratic system is being hijacked by an illegitimate council, the Guidance Bureau, which is not a recognisable entity.”
Nawara believes the revolution had managed to stop short of being tragic, such as the revolution in Libya or the ongoing Syrian civil war.
“Imagine if the revolution had turned violent like Syria.
“Protesting is only half of the revolution. It is a state of mind millions of Egyptians are still in and until we have a real system that allows for voters to be represented we will always use these tactics in parallel until we know the system has been fixed in a way that empowers the voters.”
Nawara pointed out past protests that have made a difference since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, such as the protests in 2011 that put pressure on the Supreme Council of Armed Forces to hand over power earlier than they had planned: “In November last year the pressure generated by protests in reaction to Morsy’s decree forced him to issue a retraction.”
“The revolution is not organised by any opposition, no one can claim to be the leader or the one who can command people, unlike the Muslim Brotherhood,” he added, referencing the Brotherhood’s ability to rally supporters for any cause.
The NAC statement highlights Morsy’s appointment of Abdallah as an aggressive act and that the Brotherhood spares no effort to attack and threaten the independence of the Judiciary, calling it an “open coup which rejects the goals of the 25 January revolution.”
The statement concluded. “To resist and reject this coup on the foundations of democracy and the goals of our revolution… the National Association for Change calls on the masses to hold peaceful demonstrations in squares and streets across the country on Friday, 25 January.”
