CAIRO: Likely Egyptian presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abou-Ismail today renewed his call for participation in a demonstration scheduled for November 18 designed to pressure government officials to set a date for presidential elections before April 30. “There is no contradiction between the demonstrations and the parliamentary elections scheduled for November 28,” Abou-Ismail said. “They should hear our voices before the elections.” Abou-Ismail also rejected the notion that the demonstration could be used as a pretext to delay the elections, saying, “we are keen to conduct elections on time.” He also strongly criticized the parties in the Egyptian Bloc Coalition because they stand against Islamists. “It is impossible to vote for those who refuse to vote for God,” he said. He also criticized the recent deal between Egypt and Israel to release the alleged Israeli spy Ilan Grapel in exchange for 25 Egyptian prisoners. “Hamas managed to release over 1,000 prisoners in its deal with Israel for Gilad Shalit.” “There are over 50 Egyptian prisoners in Israeli prisons,” he added.
