“We should avoid all conflicts for the sake of the nation's critical interests,” said Mohamed Moursi, chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party, emphasizing the military's responsibility over the Egyptian people until legislative and presidential elections are held. In his remarks at the party's first conference in Kafr el-Sheik governorate, Moursi said political parties still face mounting obstacles, particularly the looming threat that the state security apparatus will once again gather and cement power over the country – arguably a central cause of the January 25 Revolution. "The former regime's system still exists in the universities and the governorates, and the businessmen who are sympathetic to the former regime still work to make things unstable," Moursi said. Moursi also mentioned the persistent problem of thugs, who number almost half a million and were trained by former state security officials, he claims.
