Having ignored the reservations of the opposition civil powers about the draft constitution, as it included articles that violated their vision of having a civil state and it was submitted to a referendum within a fortnight, President Mohamed Morsi announced that parliamentary elections would be held on April 27-28. He then amended this to April 22-23, despite reservations of these political powers about the Election Law for regulating the elections. This decision fails to take into account the Supreme Constitutional Court's recommendations for amending ten articles in the draft election law and reserving its right to review these articles after their amendment. In the meantime, the opposition powers want the Government to be replaced by a national coalition government, to make the elections fair and transparent. Because their demands have been totally ignored, the main opposition parties are seriously considering boycotting the elections. But how can the first parliamentary elections under a democratically elected president be held without the opposition and revolutionary powers participating? And why the rush to hold parliamentary elections when the country is very unstable and tense, with some cities and even governorates holding civil protests? It would be wrong to think that swiftly building the state institutions is the right way out of the present crisis or for ensuring stability, while the different powers suspect the soundness and transparency of the process, under the Government of Hisham Qandil, whose policies have caused a terrible economic crisis, threatening the country with bankruptcy. Strangely, some members of the Muslim Brotherhood and their political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, admit that Qandil's Government is weak. Besides, the Salafist Al-Nour Party has come up with an initiative for resolving the political crisis by replacing the Government with one that represents the different political powers. However, the President insists on keeping the Government and announced the dates for the parliamentary elections, without taking into consideration the expected angry reactions of the opposition and the street. Hopefully, Morsi will reconsider his decision and swiftly take some vital steps to get the different powers to engage in national dialogue, in order to ensure fair, transparent elections with a high turnout.
