Thirty Egyptian opposition figures agreed on Tuesday to make efforts towards mobilizing the masses in support of political change while vowing to avoid contact with the government. The agreement was reached at a meeting hosted by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) opposition movement at the group's headquarters in South Cairo. MB General Guide Mohamed Badie called for the meeting to provide opposition figures with a forum in which to discuss recent domestic political developments and to coordinate opposition efforts. Among the opposition figures in attendance were National Association for Change (NAC) General coordinator Hassan Nafaa and Democratic Front Party Chairman Osama el-Ghazali. At the end of the meeting, Badie read a joint statement endorsed by participants. It stated that the "grave political situation" in Egypt demanded that everyone join forces to achieve democratic and constitutional reform. It also proposed preliminary mechanisms to achieve these objectives, such as avoiding contact with the regime and mobilizing the public behind political reform. According to the statement, participants agreed to adopt the NAC's stance vis-a-vis upcoming People's Assembly Elections, embodied in the organization's slogan, “Participate together or boycott together.” Attendees also stressed the need for more meetings between the various factions that constitute Egypt's political opposition. The first such gathering, entitled “No elections without guarantees," is scheduled to be held at Wafd Party headquarters on 4 August. Meeting participants announced their intention to form four committees to study the national constitution, the legal climate, upcoming elections, and the future of governance in Egypt. The committees will also be mandated with studying how to ensure the integrity of future elections. The statement went on to note that efforts would also be expended on purging opposition factions of "collaborators with the regime." Wafd Party Political Liaison Ashraf Balbaa stated that his party had not yet decided whether it would participate in upcoming People's Assembly elections, slated for October. He said that the Wafd Party was waiting to see if other opposition parties would participate, but emphasized that the party did not wish to coordinate with the MB in the matter. However, according to Wafd Party Chairman Sayyid el-Badawi, the Wafd had not been officially represented at the meeting since the MB Supreme Guide had not sent a formal invitation to the party. "Anyone from the Wafd in attendance was there only in a personal capacity, and any statements supposedly made in the name of the party have no relation to the Wafd,” said el-Badawi. Nasserist Party General Secretary Ahmed Hassan, for his part, stated that his party had also not been represented at the meeting, since the Nasserist Party had a policy of only coordinating with legal opposition parties. He added that Farouq el-Ashari, who claimed to be the Nasserist representative at the meeting, “did not represent and would never represent” the party. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
