Presidential hopefuls Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh and Mohamed ElBaradei blamed Egypt’s ruling military council on Sunday night for two days of violence in central Cairo, which resulted in over 1000 injured and a double-digit death toll.
The two men made their comments as guests on a late-night talk show, where they discussed the recent round of violence and the need for a National Salvation Government.
As clashes between protesters and the combination of Central Security Forces and military police dragged on in Tahrir Square, with reports of many protesters killed and injured, the two politicians seemed to agree that the current stand-off was the result of mismanagement of the country by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ (SCAF).
“The prime responsibility for the situation of the country is the SCAF, who admitted they cannot run the country,” said ElBaradei.
The SCAF’s insistence on ignoring some of the core requests and demands of the revolution, such as ending military trials and canceling the Emergency Law, while ignoring core issues such as social welfare and public security, has lead to the country’s dire situation, he said.
ElBaradei believes that not much has changed since the 25 January revolution and that in many cases the SCAF has merely assumed the same role as deposed President Hosni Mubarak, even using the same language. “Talk of foreign agendas and agents, for example, is exactly what Mubarak used to say to discredit some movements. Some of the statements the SCAF releases seem to be identical to Mubarak-era statements,” he said.
Abouel Fotouh added that the SCAF’s decision to introduce a document of supra-constitutional principles only added fuel to the fire. He considers the document, named after Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy, to be a product of “odd” decision making and poor counseling. “They knew that this document would enrage different political forces. It was ill-advised, given that it came so close to the elections,” he said.
He also blamed the SCAF’s ambiguous political position, as well as their unilateral and unaccountable executive decisions, for adding to the state of confusion and polarization in the community. He called on the military council to release a statement of intent, in which they outline a clear plan for a power handover. In addition, he called on all political forces to release similar statements to try and diffuse tension between them.
Abouel Fotouh and ElBaradei, respectively representing moderate Islamist and Social Democratic ideologies, took the opportunity to announce their initiative to form a National Salvation Government and advisory council to help guide the country through the transitional period.
“The SCAF themselves admitted they are ill-equipped to run the county. A cabinet must be formed from different political currents to run the country well,” ElBaradei said.
The candidates did not specifically outline plans for their initiative, but affirmed that despite differences, drastic action must be taken to correct the course of the revolution. “To avoid a worst case scenario, we need to put politics aside for a while,” said ElBaradei.
