CAIRO: Presidential hopefuls Mohamed ElBaradei and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh condemned the violence in Tahrir Square and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' (SCAF) poor management of the country, calling on it to hand over power as soon as possible, in a joint TV interview Sunday night. ElBaradei urged SCAF to admit that it has failed in leading the country. “We need a national salvation government that is given all the powers as SCAF's to lead the country during this transitional period and for the military to continue its protection of the border,” he told TV host Mona El-Shazly on Dream TV. He described the SCAF's management as a “failure,” noting that it is crucial to regain security and work on economic reform or Egypt will go bankrupt within six months. Meanwhile Aboul Fotouh said SCAF is not greedy when it comes to power, but it is “confused, its performance is slow and its administration is poor.” He blamed the generals' counselors and their “poisonous opinions,” such as deputy prime minister Aly El-Selmy and his charter of constitutional principles that sparked demonstrations last Friday. The only way out of this crisis, he added, is for SCAF to announce a date for the presidential elections to clarify when exactly the military will go back to its barracks. The military had promised to hand over power to an elected civilian government before the end of the year. It said over the past months that it would only hold presidential elections in late 2012 or early 2013. Earlier on the same day, the ruling military council released a statement about the Tahrir violence. ElBaradei said the statement indicated goodwill since it was the first time the generals have expressed sorrow. The former IAEA chief, however, criticized the cabinet statement in which it commended the Ministry of Interior for Showing restraint when dealing with protesters on Saturday. A violent crackdown on a sit-in of less than 200 people on Saturday afternoon is credited for sparking the clashes. The face off with security forces over the past days has resulted in more than 20 fatalities and hundreds of deaths. “[The statement] is shameful,” said ElBaradei, adding that they should have admitted that they've failed and left the government. “[The government] has failed in its basic responsibilities,” said Aboul Fotouh, explaining that it is not responsible for setting future strategies for development but most basically the security of the citizen and they failed in that, “despite using up more than half of the cash reserves.” ElBaradei said the dialogue between SCAF and the political powers has to continue without clashes, because this will only cause everyone to lose in the end. On his part, Aboul Fotouh called on political parties to go down in the streets and gain the trust of the people, because they now seem as if they want “a piece of the cake.”
