Anti-government rallies planned in Egypt

Members of about 13 Egyptian political parties said Monday they would participate in rallies calling for the "downfall" of the government, officials said. Protesters say they would attend afternoon rallies marking the second anniversary of former President Hosni Mubarak's ouster. The parties accuse President Mohamed Morsi's regime of "repression" and "brutality" and are seeking the "downfall of the regime," officials told Ahram Online. "Two years after the first victory of the revolution, Egypt's first democratically elected president has set a record for lying and broken promises. Blood was shed yet again and martyrs fell ... ," said a statement from the political parties. "In the midst of ceaseless political repression, economic and social malaise is worsening day after day ... successive governments have failed to fulfill even one of the demands of social justice." The rallies were to take place in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace in Cairo, the Nour Mosque in Abbasiya and the Raba al-Adawiya mosque in Nasr, Tariq el-Kholi a spokesman for the April 6 youth movement told Ahram Online. Among the parties endorsing the rallies were the Social Popular Alliance, the Youth for Justice and Freedom Movement, the Constitution Party, the Popular Movement for the Independence of al-Azhar, the Karama Party, the Free Front for Peaceful Change and the Arab Revolutionary Youth Movement, the website said.