Egypt

ElBaradei rejects military council’s transition efforts

Egyptian reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei has rejected measures taken by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to run the country's transitional phase.

ElBaradei on his Twitter feed on Sunday suggested a new constitution should be formulated before holding presidential or parliamentary elections.

He said the road to democracy should first start with a transitional constitution to temporarily run the country before developing a new one, followed by presidential and parliamentary elections.

"We still have the chance to do that," said ElBaradei, a Nobel Prize laureate.

Following former President Hosni Mubarak's resignation on 11 February, the SCAF announced it would assume power for a transitional period of six months, during which parliamentary and presidential elections would be held. The new president and parliament should lay down a new constitution, according to the plan.

The miltary council on Monday declared its intention to hold parliamentary elections in September but failed to set a date for a presidential vote.

In mid-March, ElBaradei said that forming a new constitution would require six months, suggesting a panel representing all political trends and national powers for the task.

A number of secularist groups had called for a new constitution before a 19 March referendum in which 77.2 percent of voters backed a package of constitutional amendments.

The secularist groups had also called for holding presidential elections before the parliamentary vote, to ensure that the new parliament does not include vestiges of the ousted regime.

Following the 19 March referendum, the SCAF said it planned to issue a constitutional declaration that involves the articles subjected to amendments, as well as others, to manage political life during the transitional phase.

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