Presidential aspirant Amr Moussa said Thursday he objects to allowing the ruling military council to handover power without being held legally accountable for the way it has run the country over the past year, a position that could place him at odds with prominent Islamic figures in Egypt.
“I am for the safe exit for Egypt, fully transferring power to an elected civilian leadership, and against the safe exit of any person or institution," Moussa said on his Twitter account Thursday.
"The military has made many mistakes and many have made accusations against it, but the law is the arbitrator, as we are all equal in front of the law, whether civilians or military,” he added.
Salafi preacher and presidential hopeful Hazem Abu Ismail told Reuters in January that a transition to civilian rule cannot be achieved without easing the concerns of the military, which is likely to cling to power without being given a guarantee of legal immunity.
Mahmoud Ghozlan, the Muslim Brotherhood’s media spokesperson, said in a phone interview on the privately owned Dream satellite channel last month that his group might green-light amnesty for SCAF members if other major political forces agreed to such an arrangement.
Ghozlan later retreated from this position, saying that the law should be applied fairly.
Critics accuse the country’s military leaders of mismanaging the transitional period and blame them for a series of violent clashes with anti-government protesters over the last few months that have left dozens of civilians, and a few military personnel, dead.
All of Egypt's rulers have come from the army since a 1952 coup against the ruling monarchy. Over the past year, the ruling generals have introduced legal measures designed to protect the military from meaningful civilian oversight.
