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Amr Moussa: Opposition Determined to Boycott Polls
 [An Nahar] The Egyptian opposition is more determined than ever to boycott parliamentary elections after Islamist President Mohamed Morsi challenged a court decision delaying the polls, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Thursday.In an interview with Agence France Presse, Moussa said there had been no "serious talks" with the president on the opposition's core demand for a government of national unity despite the impact of the political deadlock on Egypt's faltering economy. The opposition has come under strong U.S. pressure to take part in the elections, which had been scheduled for next month, and Mussa said it might have done so had the president accepted the delay ordered by the court. "We would have gained some time to talk about the points we are raising, and to give the government time to reconsider," he said. The president's appeal "does reverse the situation," he said, "bringing it back to the tension around the election." Morsi lodged the appeal on Wednesday against the March 6 court order cancelling his calling of the election, arguing he had acted within his sovereign powers when he set the timetable. The court has yet to give its ruling. Moussa heads the National Salvation Front along with former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei and leftist Hamdeen Sabbahi, who like Mussa ran against Morsi for the presidency last June. The opposition bloc is demanding a national unity government ahead of any vote. Morsi insists it is for the new parliament to choose a new administration. "There has to be a unity government to face the situation, and take responsibility -- collective responsibility, national responsibility," Mussa said of the country's teetering economy. Posted by: Fred 2013-03-15 |
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