The way the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) is running the country will lead to a new stage of the revolution, said April 6 Youth Movement leader Ahmed Maher on Tuesday. “The SCAF wants to retain power and create a regime similar to the former president's to preserve [the military's] power in the constitution, which will lead to a new phase of the revolution,” said Maher in a seminar held by the Arab American Institute in Washington, DC. He added that the circumstances that led to the 25 January revolution were similar to those which will lead to a new phase of the revolution. “The upcoming parliamentary elections will lead to the second part of the revolution, because the law that regulates the elections is weak due to combining the single-winner system and the list-based system, which is not good,” he said, adding that the former regime's agents will fight the elections using money and weapons to win. “We do not aim to be politicians as our revolution and mission are not yet concluded. We have to make sure of reaching a new Egypt, so we should continue putting pressure on the military junta, the cabinet and the coming parliament and president,” said Maher, explaining why the April 6 Youth Movement is not establishing a political party. Maher said the movement may form a party in the future but it first seeks to form the first lobbying group to pressure the government and to change the mentality of people in the streets, which he said is the group's primary mission. “We will follow up on the electoral process and exert pressure on the upcoming parliament and cabinet. This is our role as the revolution is not over yet,” said Maher. “The next parliament will not be homogeneous, and I expect that 35 percent of the seats will go to the Muslim Brotherhood, 30 percent or more to the remnants of the National Democratic Party, and the rest of the seats will be to independents,” he said, adding the military council will work on maintaining the powers of the military in the new constitution. Maher concluded by saying: “The Egyptian revolution will not die and will continue until we reach a new era in Egypt,“ noting that what most concerned him was the sectarian clashes between Muslims and Copts. “If Egyptians do not unite, the revolution will be hijacked,” said Maher. Translated from the Arabic Edition
