The current political crisis could be resolved by appointing a new cabinet inclusive of different political movements, Al-Nour Party has stated.
In a press conference Tuesday, the Salafi party released a statement regarding planned 30 June protests calling for early presidential elections.
“The problem is not with President Mohamed Morsi or removing him from power,” said Bassam Zarqa, party deputy chairman for political affairs. “The solution is much easier and less costly than that.”
The answer lies in fair parliamentary elections, the party believes. The statement added that there must be guarantees regarding the fairness of such elections. According to Zarqa, the guarantees would include: a technocratic cabinet appointed through consensus among different political movements, setting the date for the elections after consultation with different political movements, and reconsidering the recent governors’ reshuffle.
“We don’t want the president to appoint the next cabinet,” Zarqa said. “We want the cabinet to come through the peoples’ choice.”
Zarqa stated that the 2012 constitution gives the prime minister powers which surpass those of the president, especially in the state’s internal affairs. Ashraf Thabet, the party’s deputy chairman, added that the new cabinet should be a neutral one which isn’t affiliated with a certain political movement.
“If that is not the case,” Thabet warned, “then the fairness of the coming parliamentary elections would definitely be questioned.”
Thabet said that Al-Nour Party “appreciates” the statements made by Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi about reaching consensus among different political movements before 30 June. He called on other political movements to answer Al-Sisi’s call.
The party shot down the vision proposed by the Tamarod campaign, the first opposition group to call for protests on 30 June. Tamarod proposed that in the event of Morsi’s resignation, the chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) should temporarily occupy his role and the National Defence Council should handle the state’s internal and external security affairs until a new president is elected.
“This vision has divided the state into one team against the other,” Zarqa said. “The price for such a stand-off would be very costly and the biggest loser would be the nation.”
The party made it clear that despite their disagreements with the president, they oppose removing him from power. “If we illegitimately remove the president, no president would ever see out his term in the future,” Zarqa said.
Thabet stated that the only legitimate way of removing the president is through the constitution. He stated that the constitution gives the president the right to call for a referendum, suggesting the president arrange a referendum on possible early presidential elections.
Al-Nour Party stressed it will not take part in upcoming protests. The party did not take part in Islamist protests held last Friday.
