Magdi Ahmed Hussein, Chairman of the Islamist-oriented Independent Party, held a press conference on Saturday to launch yet another initiative on behalf of the decimated Muslim Brotherhood. The proposals, said Hussein, were being made against the backdrop of the “failed presidential election farce and widespread success of calls to boycott the polls”. Real voter turnout, he claimed, was much lower than the figures announced by the Presidential Electoral Commission (PEC). The Independent Party's initiative calls for the creation of an interim presidential council comprising seven figures from across the political spectrum (it specifically mentions liberal, leftist, Arab nationalist and Islamist representatives), including a member of the military establishment who must be an independent figure with constitutional expertise. The presidential council would be headed by — surprise, surprise — none other than Mohamed Morsi who, in this capacity, would complete his presidential term until 2016. The initiative calls for the annulment of recent presidential elections, abandoning of the post 3 July 2013 roadmap and a return to the 2012 constitution “after all necessary amendments are introduced”. The interim presidential council would have legislative power until a parliamentary assembly is elected — “within three months”. Decisions taken by the council would be beyond appeal and activities by the Supreme Constitutional Court put on hold until an elected government is in place to ratify new legislation regulating the judiciary. Hussein said it was possible to defer securing the “rights of the martyrs — by which he meant Muslim Brotherhood members who were killed in the course of breakup of the Rabaa Al-Adawiya and Nahda Square sit-ins — since what was important was “for the people to take power from the military from the outset”. It is noteworthy that the initiative was announced in the name of the Independence Party and not NASL. Some commentators take this as a sign of an emerging rift among the members of the pro-Morsi organisation. Magdi Qarqar, a NASL official, denied there were any differences. The initiative, he said, was proposed within the framework of the NASL and a decision was then taken that the Independent Party should launch it in its own name. The initiative, stressed Qarqar, was fully consistent with the alliance's own positions. It called for the reinstatement of Morsi and the abnegation of all balloting processes since 30 June 2013. He added that NASL allows member parties to issue initiatives within the general framework of its principles. Cairo University political science professor Seif Abdel-Fattah has unveiled what can be seen as a companion initiative. His “Nation for All” proposal is “a charter agreed upon by all revolutionary forces for the post-coup era”. It calls for all elections to be delayed for three years to allow society to reunify following “the fragmentation caused by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) after the 25 January Revolution”. Abdel Fattah's proposal includes a dispute management committee, a coalition government and cabinet of technocrats. He, too, called for a presidential council, this time with five members: a liberal, an Islamist, a respected public figure, an independent legal expert and a representative of the security establishment. NASL has called for protests leading up to 3 July, the anniversary of the announcement of the roadmap. It rejects last week's presidential polls. On the day of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi's swearing in ceremonies it issued a statement insisting the inauguration was “equivalent to nothing”. The statement went on to express NASL's “complete confidence in the people's ability to recover their revolution”. The latest round of initiatives and accompanying calls for demonstrations underlines the extent to which the NASL is living on another planet, says Wagih Al-Masri, an expert on Islamist movements. The most that the Muslim Brothers and their supporters can hope for is to show they still exist and try to raise the morale of their followers. Opponents of the presidential polls are running out of steam and will soon grind to a halt, says Al-Masri. The government is clearly back in control, the public's overriding concern is to see improved living standards, and the third stage of the roadmap — legislative elections — is just around the corner, already the focus of most political forces.
