CAIRO (Updated) - Around 3,000 political activists and scholars held Saturday a broad conference on Egypt's future after the revolution and on moves to protect it, as they elected a 60-strong council to represent them in this transition-to-democracy period. The conferees, most of them revolutionaries who demonstrated in Al Tahrir Square, showed up at a large hall, that was used by Hosni Mubarak's toppled regime for big galas, for several sessions on the country's political and economic future. "The success of the revolution can be measured by its ability to continue. We therefore urge the Egyptian people to protect their revolution," Mohamed Fayeq, a former information minister, told the conference, dubbed ‘Egypt's First Conference: The People Protect the Revolution'. He added that the biggest challenge of the revolution is "rebuilding Egypt politically and economically". Currently under military leadership, Egypt has been in a transitional phase ever since the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak in February. During this period, parliamentary and presidential elections are expected later this year. The conference, which also grouped workers, farmers and youth groups that helped launch the revolt, aimed to form a council to be the "main voice of the revolution and potentially a main driver in the transitional phase," Ihab Hamdi, a youth activist, said. One of the important reasons for this group to convene is the rising influence of the Islamists and Islamic groups in the local scene, in particular the Salafists, who were dormant under the former regime. Participants in the conference criticised the Muslim Brotherhood for boycotting the wide-scale gathering held at a Cairo conference centre Saturday. Business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, founder of the ‘Free Egyptians' political party (under formation), said that taking part in the conference was “a national duty”. “The only political power that did not attend [the Muslim Brotherhood] should have given their opinions instead of this negative boycott,” he said. Sawiris added that he supports “all forms of national dialogue… as a healthy phenomenon”, adding that up to 5,000 people nationwide took part in the conference “something unprecedented in previous forms of dialogue”. The Minister of Local Development was interrupted three times during his speech at the conference, as the attendees shouted: "Free the [revolutionary] detainees and scrape the anti-protest law".
