The head of the Wasat Party walked out of a conference on the recent parliamentary elections Thursday after learning that two men Wasat said are connected to the former regime of Hosni Mubarak had been invited to speak.
Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies and the Germany-based Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation held the first session of a conference titled “The People's Assembly Elections: Indications and Results” Thursday in the resort town of Ain Sokhna, located on the Red Sea's Gulf of Suez.
The Wasat Party, whose name translates as “center” in reference to its moderate Islamist political stance, said in a statement that party head Abul Ela Mady was surprised to find Al-Sayed Yassin, a political theorist widely believed to have been connected to the now-disbanded National Democratic Party, and former NDP media secretary Ali Eddin Hilal on the speaking list.
The statement said Wasat had received an invitation which said the conference would include People's Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny, MP and general coordinator of the Brotherhood-led Democratic Alliance Wahid Abdel Meguid, MP and Karama Party member Mohamed Saeed Idris, and journalist Diaa Rashwan.
State-run news agency MENA quoted Yassin as saying during the conference's opening session that the demonstrators in Tahrir Square will have no legitimacy once the presidential election and writing of the new constitution are finished, stirring objections among participants.
Yassin stressed that if protesters want to embrace the democratic path, then they must accept the results of democratic elections.
The 25 January uprising created several positives in Egyptian society, Yassin said, noting increased public demand for political participation and more supervision of and participation in national decision-making.
Speaking after Yassin, leftist intellectual and leader of the Tagammu Party Abdel Ghaffar Shokr said the “legitimacy of the revolution” means the right of the people to correct their country's path at any time. He added the legitimacy of the Parliament does not contradict the legitimacy of the square.
“We now have the will of the people who are willing to pay any price to achieve their demands,” Shokr said.
MP Abdallah Moghazy also emphasized to the audience that the legitimacy of the square is not at odds with the legitimacy of the elected Parliament.
