CAIRO: The Democratic Front Party (DFP) proposed holding a conference that would bring together all of Egypt's political forces, in an effort to draft a new constitution that would ensure a smooth and peaceful transfer of power. At the press conference on Monday, DFP chairman, former Justice Minister Yehia El Gamal read the party's statement: "We announce our proposal for a large political conference for all active political forces, which may include associations and syndicates, to debate the future of Egypt after Mubarak. The statement also included wishes of long life and health for the Egyptian president and cited the recent rumors surrounding his health as an indication of the people's apprehension about the future. Following the announcement journalists queried El Gamal on whether the banned Muslim Brotherhood would be invited to the conference. "As a liberal political party, we cannot exclude anyone, but at the end of the day we ask the Brotherhood to play within the political game and not to work through religion, Magda Saeed, member of the party's Higher Committee told Daily News Egypt. The Wafd party recently announced a similar proposal, which Osama El Ghazaly Harb, the DFP's vice chairman, believed was a good reason to coordinate with them. "It is our obligation as the opposition to unite public opinion on the importance of exerting maximum pressure on the government and the National Democratic Party (NDP) to take serious steps that would secure the smooth transfer of power, Harb said. Former parliament member and DFP member Anwar El Sadat added that he believed the National Democratic Party's November convention would be a good opportunity to address this pressing issue. The DFP's Higher Committee member Khaled Kandil also criticized the interrogation of opposition journalist Ibrahim Eissa by state security. Eissa was among the first journalists to publish stories questioning recent rumors about President Mubarak's health. "The roots of the problem are not in the rumors themselves or the articles. They are in the lack of transparency which has fueled such rumors in the first place. Because it seems that the real decisions are being made in the halls of the NDP, without the people knowing anything about what is going on, said Kandil.
