Egyptians call for end of emergency period

Presidential candidates in Egypt demanded that emergency laws be lifted Friday, the last day of a state of emergency the ruling council declared in March. Six presidential candidates issued a statement Thursday, urging the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces not to extend the emergency law unless it provides a satisfactory reason for doing so, al-Masry al-Youm reported. The candidates said a presidential election should be conducted before the end of the year. Activists and others protesting in Cairo called on authorities to speed up the transfer of power to civilians. More than 20 political parties and movements had "Reclaiming the Revolution" protests in the city's Tahrir Square. American actor Sean Penn joined protesters in the square, al-Masry al-Youm said. The actor received a standing ovation from protesters. The Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best-organized political force, said on its Web site the 37-party Democratic Alliance for Egypt coalition would decide Sunday whether to withdraw from and boycott the Nov. 28 parliamentary elections. The party promised that without electoral reforms by Sunday, it would support renewed popular protests on the streets. McClatchy Newspapers said late Thursday the alliance already agreed to boycott the elections -- the first scheduled since President Hosni Mubarak's government collapsed seven months ago. United Press International was not able to independently verify the report. The coalition says it wants the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to alter election laws so votes for political parties -- not for individual candidates -- decide all the new Parliament's seats. The original election law, passed this summer, said half the delegates would be elected by party and the other half by individual candidacy.