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The El-Haraka El-Watanya El-Masrya Party delivered 19,000 signatures delegating the army to run the country, to the Morale Affairs Administration of the Armed Forces on Saturday.
The signatures were collected from party members and citizens from 20 governorates. The party released a statement on Saturday saying that those who submitted their signatures were upset with President Mohamed Morsi’s regime.
They criticised the regime’s inability to respond to the people’s needs of security and stability which is evident in the increasing calls for civil disobedience across the country.
“The Armed Forces are the most capable of running the country in this transitional stage; they enjoy popular consensus,” said Hesham Hashem, deputy founding member of the party.
He added that the army should run the country until security is restored and the economy begins recovering. “The army has the responsibility to save the country from the Muslim Brotherhood’s occupation; it’s the worst kind of occupation Egypt has seen,” Hashem said.
The party’s statement said the army carries the historical responsibility of protecting the people as they represent all factions of Egyptian society.
The campaign to collect signatures started in Port Said, spreading to other governorates. The military spokesperson has denied the Armed Forces were involved or asked for these signatures.
The statement quoted Yasser Abol Makarem, a member of the party’s supreme committee and deputy founding member, who said he was optimistic with the number of people who volunteered to collect signatures. Some even headed to the notary themselves to submit signatures in spite of the difficulties they faced in different governorates.
The El-Haraka El-Watanya El-Masrya Party is headed by constitutional expert Ibrahim Darwish. The party’s leader is former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq who is wanted for corruption charges. Shafiq has been in the United Arab Emirates since last year and he was recently placed on a border watch list.
