CAIRO: El-Ghad Party will remain part of the Democratic Alliance, it said in a press statement, clarifying that it did not attend the Saturday meeting with the ruling military council in objection to the military's reluctance to set a timetable for the transfer of power. At a meeting on Monday the party's head and presidential hopeful Ayman Nour also called on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to hand over power to a civilian authority before mid-2012. Political parties met with SCAF last Saturday to present specific demands, including ending the state of emergency, and implementing a political exclusion law that would strip remnants of the former regime of their right to participate in the political arena for 10 years. “The state of emergency ended on Sep. 30 because this is why we had the revolution,” Nour said. Last week, the Democratic Alliance threatened to boycott the November parliamentary elections if its key demands weren't met by Sunday, Oct. 2. SCAF agreed to amend Article 5 of the parliament law to allow political party members to contest seats allotted to the individual candidates system, which make up one third of parliament. There were many proposals regarding the political exclusion law, with some suggesting it be enforced for two years and others demanding it be implemented for five or 10 years. There was also debate over who exactly would be excluded by the law, whether it would apply to former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) MPs elected in 2010 or extended to include those elected in 2005. “We [El-Ghad Party] refused to meet [SCAF's chief of staff Sami] Anan because of the council's vagueness,” Nour said. “Moreover, we will not accept any state security officers and the men of Safwat El-Sherif and Fathy Sorour.” Nour said that if he had attended the meeting, he would have refused to sign the resulting statement. He added that the party seeks dialogue with the “decision-makers.” He also criticized the policies and decisions made by military General Mamdouh Shahin, saying, "His logic is reminiscent of Safwat El Sherif's and Fathy Sorour's,” the former Speakers of the Shoura Council and the People's Assembly. Two-party lists Earlier this week, the Freedom and Justice Party along with Al-Wafd announced that they are no longer planning to run under one list in the upcoming parliamentary elections. However, members of parties in the coalition disagreed over the stance of the FJP and Al-Wafd to have two electoral lists, denouncing the coalition's leadership actions. Nour told reporters that the decision to run in a two-party list system is inconvenient, explaining that this alliance was formed to save Egypt. “We need a strong national government to represent all parties,” said Nour. He stressed that the new Ghad Party will participate in every activity aimed at saving the revolution including the Friday Oct. 7 protests, which are expected to bring together most political forces.
