(AFP Photo)
Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei renewed calls for a new government on Sunday as part of a seven-point plan for reform.
ElBaradei said the solution for the “decay of state authority and spiralling violence” required the appointment of a “new and credible” government, restoring law and order, reviving the economy, and the introduction of transitional justice.
He added that Egypt also needed a process of national reconciliation, constitutional amendments, and an election law that guarantees fairness.
The National Salvation Front’s (NSF) general coordinator and Al-Dostour Party chairman presented the plan through his Twitter account on Sunday night.
He had earlier condemned the Shura Council’s passing of the new parliamentary elections law without returning it to the Supreme Constitutional Court for review a second time, calling the move “a continuation of political thuggery”.
“Egypt is suffering from a tragic situation. The foundations of the state are eroding and violence is on the rise. The regime in its current form is unable to manage the country. We a need complete revision of policies before it is too late,” he tweeted.
“This is not the first time [ElBaradei] has proposed plans for reform,” his official spokesperson Rania Azab told Daily News Egypt.
The opposition leader has repeatedly called for similar reforms, individually and as part of the NSF, Egypt’s largest coalition of secular opposition parties and groups.
“These are just recommendations. He has no intention to meet with anyone at the moment,” Azab said when asked if ElBaradei would present this plan to President Mohamed Morsi or other government officials.
NSF leaders have repeatedly rejected invitations for national dialogue with Morsi, however. They initially demanded certain criteria such as an agenda and having the meetings televised.
Recently they announced boycotting dialogue on grounds of what they say is Morsi’s repeated pattern of pushing through what he wants first, like his November constitutional decree, the referendum on the constitution in December and most recently the parliamentary elections.
ElBaradei and others are calling on Morsi to replace Prime Minister Hesham Qandil and his government with a non-partisan one trusted enough to run the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Opposition forces also demanded constitutional amendments and a new elections law, deeming the current one as failing to guarantee free and fair elections.
The NSF has announced it will boycott the upcoming elections for the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, since, they claim, their demands have been repeatedly ignored.
