People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny said on Tuesday that, “Parliament is impartial to all presidential candidates and does not interfere in the election.” Katatny’s statement came in response to independent MP Mohamed al-Omda’s claims that Parliament is supporting Mohamed Morsy, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate.
Omda had also accused the governors of the provinces and state media of directing the people to vote for Ahmed Shafiq. “They cannot fool the people,” he said. “They will vote for Morsy.”
His statements were met with applause from Freedom and Justice Party MPs, but Katatny asked them to respect the constitution.
Mohamed al-Saghir, head of the Building and Development Party bloc, accused the undersecretary of the Religious Endowments Ministry in Sohag of ordering imams to urge worshipers to vote for Shafiq, while other MPs accused the governor of Minya of instructing government employees to vote for Shafiq.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
