(AFP Photo)
Former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy criticised the administration of President Mohamed Morsi on Tuesday, claiming that Morsi would lose his position if early presidential elections were to be held.
Sabahy appeared on CBC TV channel’s Honna Al-A’sema show on Tuesday, where he discussed several political and economic issues. The Al-Tayar Al-Sha’aby founder claimed that Morsi’s legitimacy is decaying one day after the other. He explained that Morsi is now relying on his legal legitimacy acquired through the democratic presidential elections, saying he is no longer protected by political or ethical legitimacy. “The legal legitimacy cannot stand alone to form a ruling regime, but Morsi can maintain his position if he reforms the political, economic, and social apparatus of Egypt,” Sabahy said.
He insisted that Morsi would lose his position if early presidential elections were to be held. He also asserted that the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) would not be able to secure a majority in the next parliamentary elections.
Sabahy, a leading figure in the National Salvation Front (NSF), said the Front still has three conditions to participate in the next parliamentary elections, namely appointing a new un-politicised government to oversee the elections, appointing a new prosecutor general by the Supreme Judicial Council, and drafting a new elections law representing all political groups. He claimed the FJP is opposing these demands to deprive the NSF from participating in elections where they would secure majority.
Sabahy praised the decision to release the Egyptian Copts detained in Libya; however he urged the government to work on releasing other Egyptians, detained in several states. He added that the Al-Tayar Al-Sha’aby will launch a popular diplomacy initiative aiming at solving the problems some expatriate Egyptians have been enduring. “We will also hold a national unity conference soon, and we are hoping for the Al-Azhar and the Coptic Church’s presence at the conference.”
Sabahy said the Al-Tayar Al-Sha’aby will present two new service projects, explaining that the first would aim at collecting garbage while the other would provide basic commodities to Egyptians at an affordable price.
Regarding the NSF’s recent meeting with the IMF delegation, Sabahy said the meeting came because the delegation is aware that the government is not representing all the national political actors in Egypt. He added that the reason behind the NSF’s refusal of the IMF loan is that IMF policies always benefit the ruling regimes and harm the poor citizens. “We explained to the delegation that we have two conditions to reconsider our stance regarding the loan, those are maintaining subsidies on basic goods and not obliging the government to use the loans in certain sectors.”
The former presidential candidate said those conditions are valid for any foreign loan Egypt might seek to acquire, adding that loans should be used only when absolutely necessary.
