Strong Egypt Party rejects protests, urges dialogue

Islamist Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh's party has called on the president to cancel some parts of the constitutional declaration, while urging all parties to avoid further escalation and demonstrations The Strong Egypt Party, which was founded by Islamist and former presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, announced on Monday an initiative to resolve the current political crisis. Large demonstrations have been taking place in Cairo and other governorates since President Mohamed Morsi made an unexpected constitutional declaration on Thursday. The decree rendered all the president's decisions immune from legal challenges for a six-month period, and also protects the Islamist-led Constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting a new constitution, and the Shura Council (the upper house of parliament) from dissolution by court order. The party's initiative calls on the president to cancel some of the declaration's articles and for the Interior Ministry to immediately stop the use of violence against protesters. The initiative also calls on the president to maintain other parts of the declaration, including the dismissal of the prosecutor-general, the repetition of the trials of those accused of killing protesters. They also call for  the appointment of the prosecutor-general by high judicial council with presidential ratification. The party stressed its complete rejection of intervention by the armed forces in political affairs, asking all parties for positive interaction to protect national unity and prevent strife. Strong Egypt also stressed the urgency of halting all escalation measures and protests, whether in favour of the constitutional declaration or in opposition to it. The initiative called for national dialogue to reach consensus on the Constituent Assembly and the constitution. In addition, the party called on the interior ministry to "immediate stop the violation, suppression and arrest of protesters without any rights, which goes against the law and the principles of human rights." The party also called for the reshuffle in the organisational chart of the ministry of interior and the exclusion of all police officers who are involved in human rights violations. Abul-Fotouh was a former leading member in Muslim Brotherhood during the Mubarak era. He left the group in 2011. From Ahramonline