Former presidential candidate Mohamed Selim Al-Awwa suggested appointing a new prime minister and delegating him the powers of president as a way out of the current political crisis. In a statement released on Al-Jazeera Mubashir Misr channel on Thursday, Al-Awwa stated that his initiative stems from article 153 of the 2012 constitution. The article states that should the president be incapable of carrying out his duties, his prime minister would be delegated to take on the duties of president for 90 days, until a new president is elected. "But this would require reaching consensus over a new prime minister who would be delegated such duties," Al-Awwa said. Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi has been holding his post for over two weeks and formed a cabinet of 34 ministers. Al-Awwa claimed he mediated between the Muslim Brotherhood and the armed forces to reach a compromise over the current crisis. He nevertheless added that his mediations proved fruitless and refrained from saying the reason behind this failure. The former presidential candidate criticised the calls made by Minister of Defence Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi on Egyptians to take to the streets on Friday to delegate the armed forces and the police to fight "terrorism". "It is not within the minister of defence's jurisdiction to issue such calls," Al-Awwa said. "Only the president, even the interim president, or his deputy, can issue such calls." Al-Awwa stated that though Al-Sisi announced Adly Mansour as interim president, he never announced the suspension of former president Mohamed Morsi. He added that this leaves Morsi's current stance unclear. "This situation can only be solved politically," Al Awwa said. "A security solution would not work." He called on the authorities to release all those who have been arrested or held since 3 July, "starting with Morsi and his advisors" and Brotherhood leaders. An Egyptian court ordered on Friday Morsi's detention for questioning over suspected collaboration with Palestinian militant group Hamas, state-owned news agency MENA reported.
