Dr. Morsi, Dutch Ambassador in Cairo: Egypt Deserves Urgent International Economic Aid

Dr. Mohamed Morsi, Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), received on Monday 19 March 2012, Susan Blankhart, Ambassador of the Netherlands in Egypt, at the party’s headquarters in Cairo, where he welcomed the ambassador, expressing hope that these meetings would contribute in bolstering cooperation and deepening relations between the two countries.

During the meeting, Dr. Morsi reviewed with the Dutch ambassador features of the Egyptian political scene during the transitional period, underscoring the need for Egypt’s new Constitution to reflect the full spectrum of Egyptian people’s segments, faiths, education and active stakeholders, and for establishing a constitutional democratic modern state, based on the values of freedom, justice, equality, citizenship and social justice.

With respect to the FJP’s position toward the current interim government, Dr. Morsi reiterated that it must be removed, due to its evident failure to fulfill the demands and expectations of the Egyptian people. He also emphasized that there will be continued pressure from the parliament and the Egyptian street until the government is changed.

Regarding the role of women in Parliament, Morsi asserted that, although they clearly play a major part in both the FJP and the Brotherhood, where women represent a large proportion of the members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the FJP’s constituent assembly, consisting of 9000 members, includes 1000 women, their representation in Parliament is low due mainly to the candidate-list system of Egyptian legislative elections.

At the international level, the FJP leader highlighted the need for real international political and economic support for Egypt at the present stage, especially in the field of investment and tourism. He pointed that the impression of instability during the transition phase makes a lot of businesses and organizations hesitate before bringing their investments to Egypt.

Moreover, Dr. Morsi emphasized the ability of the Egyptian people to overcome this precarious phase’s difficult challenges.

For her part, the Dutch Ambassador congratulated the FJP Chairman on the results obtained by the party in the Egypt’s first free and fair parliamentary elections, asserting that her country is ready and willing to provide support and exchange technical, economic and political expertise, expressing the hope that Egypt will go through the current democratic transition successfully.