Political parties and revolutionary coalitions continue to oppose the recent appointment of Kamal al-Ganzoury as prime minister. They favor letting a national salvation government rule during the transition period instead of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
In a joint statement, they said that the use of excessive violence against demonstrators in Tahrir Square, which killed 42 protesters last week, proves that the military council is the main enemy of the Egyptian people and the main obstacle of the revolution, which will not be able to make any progress without the transfer of power to a civilian authority.
The statement demanded that the national salvation government include presidential candidates Mohamed ElBaradei, Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh and Hamdeen Sabbahy.
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s interim government resigned last week amid growing protests in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities against military rule.
The military council, which is facing its worst crisis since the popular uprising that brought down President Hosni Mubarak in February, promised to hand over power to civilians soon. It appointed a new prime minister and offered to hold a referendum as to whether it should step down.
But protesters rejected 78-year-old Ganzoury, and demanded an immediate handover of power, calling on the army to return to its barracks and restrict its role to defending the country against external aggression.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council, told the nation on Tuesday that the army does not seek to hold onto power. "The army is ready to go back to the barracks immediately if that’s what the people demand in a referendum," he said.
