Dr. Darraj: Silence Of The Military Over Selmi Initiative Is Suspicious

 Dr. Amr Darraj, Secretary of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) in Giza, stressed that the most important demand of the upcoming November 18 ‘million-man demonstration’ is for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to announce a date for the handover of power to an elected government no later than April 2012. He added that these millions are to send SCAF a clear message: the Egyptian people reject the constitutional principles document and initiative. 

In an interview on "Al Jazeera  Mubasher Egypt", Dr. Darraj denounced SCAF’s complete silence and its failure to make any statement to clarify its position with regard to this document and the absurd timing of this initiative.

Dr. Darraj emphasised that to portray the situation as if the Islamic movement is on one side and all other national stakeholders are on the other side is far from the truth, because many Egyptian stakeholders will participate in the upcoming ‘million-man demonstration’ including the April 6 Movement, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Abdullah Ashaal and Abdul Ghaffar Shukr – the renowned politician with a history of non-Islamist perspective, the Adl (Justice) party and the Ghad (Tomorrow) Party as well as many other parties.

He added that there is a definite consensus among all the national stakeholders to reject SCAF domination of political life. He explained that if members of SCAF at the present time are “purely patriotic citizens, loyal to the homeland”, there are no guarantees that this would remain the case in the future. He also mentioned that this document imposes military guardianship on the elected members of parliament, and forces them to form a constituent authority – for drafting the Constitution – selected in a specific manner. Dr. Darraj also explained that the most dangerous aspect in this issue is that if parliament could not draw up a constituent body during a certain period, SCAF – all on its own – will form a constituent authority to draft the constitution. Thus, this document lays the foundation for military rule, while we call for the establishment of a democratic civilian state. Drafting the Constitution must be by broad consensus among all political stakeholders, but this document appoints SCAF “the guardian of constitutional legitimacy”. For one thing, what can SCAF possibly do to protect constitutional legitimacy except removal of the democratically-elected government and blatant interference in political life?

Dr. Darraj called upon the secular movement to drop its fears of the MB, and called upon the MB not to fear the secular movement, adding that there are a lot of general principles common to all political players and stakeholders, and that other details can be raised for debate. He said that there is no dispute over the Islamic reference or the civil nature for the state. Furthermore, in conclusion, Dr. Darraj stressed that the role of SCAF should be limited to managing the current transitional phase only, and should not go beyond it to permanent military rule.