CAIRO: Political powers failed to agree on a statement to issue in a press conference Monday in the wake of clashes between protesters and army forces, which left 25 dead and more than 330 injured on Sunday. Participating political forces said they would issue a statement including a list of steps to take in order to defuse sectarian tension in Egypt later in the day, rather than during the conference held at Sawy Cultural Wheel early on Monday. Meanwhile, presidential hopeful Ayman Nour issued a separate statement shortly after the conference. Several political powers attended the conference including Al-Adl, Al-Wasat, Al-Karama and the Democratic Front parties, in addition to presidential hopefuls Amr Moussa, Nour and Bothaina Kamel. During the press conferences, divisions surfaced between political powers as some demanded that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) hand over power to a presidential council, while others disagreed, instead calling for the resignation of the Cabinet. "I [support] a roadmap that forces SCAF to hand over power to a presidential council, sacks Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and imposes the political exclusion law on remnants of the disbanded National Democratic Party (NDP)," Amin Iskandar, leader in Al-Karama Party said. Coptic lawyer Mamdouh Ramzy agreed with Iskanadar's demands, adding that the initial statement that was supposed to be issued by the political powers complimented SCAF. Others condemned calls to hand over power to a presidential council, saying that this is against the will of most political powers. "A call for a presidential council overlooks the vote of the majority of the people in the [March] referendum," spokesperson of Al-Wasat Party, Tarek Al-Malt, said. "We want to hasten holding integral parliamentary elections so we can hand over power to a People's Assembly elected by the people," he added On his part, Ahmed Shoukry, leading member and founder of Al-Adl Party, proposed that the parliamentary elections be held in three weeks, followed by presidential elections, in a bid to end the whole process in six weeks. General Coordinator of the National Association for Change (NAC) Abdel Gelil Moustafa called on SCAF to delegate its authority to a new government, adding that Prime Minister Essam Sharaf proved to be "weak." He said the SCAF has absolute power, reminiscent of ousted president Hosni Mubarak. Presidential hopeful Bothaina Kamel said Sharaf was "detained" by SCAF, explaining that his resignation was turned down several times. On his part, business tycoon Naguib Sawiris described Sunday's clashes as "catastrophic," calling for forming a "council of wise men” to discuss sectarian issues with "extremist powers." Sawiris refused to name the powers he was referring to, but pleaded with them to overlook issues such as not being able to build a church for the sake of the country during this critical period. He added that there were forces who wanted Egypt to “burn with sectarian tensions.” Political powers also failed to agree on the cause behind the bloody clashes. Some accused the military of brutally attacking protesters while others blamed the clashes on "foreign hands," thugs or remnants of the NDP. Kamel, who was present during the clashes, bluntly accused army forces. "The military council is the only one responsible for Sunday's clashes, not foreign hands," Kamel said, adding that SCAF needed to be cleansed. Nour echoed Kamel's sentiment saying that the power given to SCAF from the people in Tahrir, following the January 25 Revolution, came to an end on Sunday. Others present at the conference defended the SCAF, saying, "The armed forces is the only [authority protecting] our national security." Moussa said that "thugs" infiltrated the ranks of peaceful protesters, warning that Egypt was on a verge of a civil war if these events are ignored. "The law must to be respected and the government must be firm," Moussa said Most of political powers attributed the bloody clashes to the security vacuum and absence of the rule of law. Panelists called for immediately implementing the unified law for houses of worship to prevent sectarian tension from escalating, and launching a swift investigation into the clashes. Many slammed state TV for its coverage of the clashes, calling for the resignation of Information Minister Osama Heikal. "State TV needs to stop broadcasting immediately," Gamila Ismail said. On Sunday, state TV called on Egyptians to defend the military from an attack by Coptic protesters. Individually, the April 6 Youth Movement was quick to condemn the military council in a statement issued on Sunday evening for running over protesters. The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, also issued a statement condemning the clashes, saying that protests that lead to bloody clashes should be denounced by both Muslims and Christians. FJP added that it respected the freedom to hold peaceful protests.
