CAIRO: Egyptian presidential candidate Mohamed el-Baradei criticized the political focus on the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's trial. The focus on the trials drove Egyptians of avoiding any achievement of the real demands of revolution. “I watched only one minute of Mubarak's trial,” said el-Baradei. El-Baradei said the Egyptian January 25 Revolution did not break out to prosecute the former regime's figures but it was triggered to achieve social justice and the poor Egyptian's demands. He made this statement during his meeting with the youth of the Justice Party. El-Baradei also criticized the six-month state of ambiguity concerning the election law since the triggering of the revolution. He noted all political powers agreed to activate the Party's list for a proportional representation system, but Egypt's ruling Military Council issued a law contradicting this system. El-Baradei said the transition period is running badly, so he called the Military Council to return security and transparency for the citizens and to avoid artificial differences. The absence of security is the main cause of instability in Egypt along with spending money from its reserve amid decline of investments and tourism, according to el-Baradei. Meanwhile, he said the number of million-man demonstrations in Tahrir Square wastes time. As for the police sector, el-Baradei said it is not reformed yet and still there are still a number of leaders in the Ministry of Interior remaining in their positions. Thus he did not rule out the possibility of forges in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He called for international supervision over the elections, “I do not know why the military council are refusing international supervision. All other countries around the world apply this mechanism,” he added. “How did we apply the Emergency Law for 30 years when we did not need it? And now it is cancelled in the time it is necessary for security presence,” El-Baradei wondered. El-Baradei called on all Egyptians to bear responsibility and not to create artificial problems about Egyptian identity. In addition, he asked Al-Azhar to re-open the dialogue with all parties. During his meeting with Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayeb, and other top scholars in al-Azhar sheikhdom, el-Baradei praised el-Tayeb's initiative to reform Al-Azhar and to restore its leadership role nationally and internationally. El-Baradei said electing the grand Imam and getting Al-Azhar's independency are top priorities. He also called for rejoining Dar Al-Fatwa and al-Awqaf to Al-Azhar to reclaim its position as Islam's minaret.
