Egypt’s military rulers launched unprecedented criticism against the Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday, denying that the military junta is attempting to rig the upcoming presidential election.
In a statement read on state television, the military council alluded to the Brotherhood, rejecting "false allegations by one of the political powers" that the council plans to influence the Presidential Elections Commission.
Without naming the organization, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the Brotherhood's questioning of the military's intentions concerning the integrity of the upcoming presidential election and referendum on the new constitution "were unfounded fabrications."
This is the first time the SCAF has directed a public attack at the Brotherhood, who has the largest party in Parliament.
On Saturday, the Brotherhood warned the council over its backing of the current government, which it accuses of stalling the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and brought a dominant Islamist majority into Parliament.
The SCAF said that such a position disregards the military’s role in planning and carrying out the previous parliamentary elections in a transparent and fair manner, which selected the political forces that currently constitute the People's Assembly and Shura Council.
The statement added that the SCAF has been following, with deep resentment, media statements released by one political force in particular. These statements, it said, have challenged the integrity of the military and the SCAF’s intentions, attacked the performance and patriotism of the government and doubted the Supreme Constitutional Court’s independence and impartiality.
The SCAF went on to say that in the past it chose to abstain from responding to such fabrications. The council does not wish to use its legal and natural right to comment on such lies and malicious accusations out of the belief that the honorable armed forces was above arguing with any group or being forced to defend itself and its untarnished history.
The military took over more than a year ago after a popular uprising ended President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.
The statement stressed that the Egyptian people nationwide have no doubts about who preserves their dignity and patriotic pride and who puts national interests and the people’s rights above all others.
"The armed forces and the SCAF have stuck to this commitment and have not drifted into the attempts to provoke and drag it into mini-battles,” said the statement.”However, the latest statements have gone too far in bending the facts and slandering the good name of the armed forces, which has a place in the heart of every Egyptian.
"Some people imagined they could pressure the armed forces and the SCAF into abandoning its patriotic duty of managing the country’s affairs during the transitional period and they seek to undermine its constitutional powers without regard for the people’s interests,” the statement went on.
The Brotherhood-led Parliament has voted to begin the process of withdrawing confidence from the Kamal al-Ganzouri-led cabinet. According to the March 2011 Constitutional Declaration, the SCAF is solely responsible for forming and discharging governments.
The SCAF has said it will hand power to civilians by 1 July, after a new president takes office.
The military statement went on: "We appreciate the difficult general atmosphere in which all cabinets have had to work since the eruption of our great revolution, and we understand that the government’s performance may not appease the aspirations of the masses at this critical juncture.”
“However, we emphasize that the country’s interests are our primary concern, and that we will spare no effort to take the necessary procedures and decisions in the best interest of the country and its citizens so we can all pass this difficult stage in our nation's history.”
“Talk about threats to challenge the constitutionality of the People's Assembly before the Supreme Constitutional Court and suggestions that this noble court is subject to executive authority is an unacceptable tactic that aims to undermine the noble Egyptian judiciary and its rulings, and to achieve narrow partisan interests at the expense of the sanctity of the judiciary."
The statement concluded: "We call on everyone to take heed of the lessons of history so as to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past — which we do not wish to recur — look to the future with a spirit of cooperation and collaboration, and put the higher interest of the nation above all others.”
