CAIRO: A number of potential presidential candidates criticized Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) over the draconian emergency laws, saying were to end on September 30 according to the constitutional declaration that followed the January uprising. They also expressed their refusal at the extension of the transitional period in the country that was meant to be only 6 month, and which is now in its 8th. 6 of the presidential candidates met on Thursday and issued a statement with several demands, one day ahead of Friday's demonstrations, dubbed as “the Friday of Reclaiming the Revolution.” The march condemns the emergency law, calls for an end to military tribunals for civilians, more freedoms for the press and a clear schedule of the transition of power to a civilian government and setting a minimum and a maximum wages. The candidates Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamist candidate Hazem Salah Abou Ismael, former foreign minister and previous chairman of the Arab League Amr Moussa, Islamic scholar Mohamed Seleem al-Awa, Hamdeen Sabahi and Hisham Bastawissi issued the statement jointly. The candidates said any decision or ruling that comes after September 30 based on the emergency laws will be “void of any legal or constitutional legitimacy.” They also called for the activation of the “ghadr law” or the “treachery law,” a legal ruling that was put after the military coup of 1952, which tries affiliates of the old regime swiftly and prevents them from being involved in politics for at least 10 years. This has been a popular demand by many political movements and groups that fear the return of some former members of the deposed National Democratic Party, the ruling party during the area of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, as independents in the upcoming elections. The candidates also called for a draft that allows the judiciary system to be “fully independent to guarantee the fairness of the lower and upper house elections later this year.” BM
