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Egypt's Watan Party spearheads fresh reconciliation intitiative
[Al Ahram] Egypt's Salafist Watan Party has spearheaded a new national reconciliation initiative aimed at reuniting polarised political forces, as Egypt braces for what some forecast to be a second revolution later this month.The move, which comes a few days in advance of the mass anti-government protests scheduled for 30 June, aims to tackle the country's "worsening" economic and social malaise. Nine political parties, mostly Islamists, along with some twelve Islamist-leaning movements, have thrown their weight behind the initiative. These include the Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party and the Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya's Building and Development Party. Among a list of key demands, the initiative calls for forming a national-unity government, a popular committee to ensure transparency of elections, as well as another body tasked with constitutional amendments. The Watan Party, a close ally of President Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund, has extended an invitation to figures from across the country's political and economic spectrum to attend its opening presser. The convention, which will be held at Al-Azhar University next Saturday, will assess the country's economic situation and future outlooks. Egypt's imploding economy and plummeting tourism were among the motives behind the party's reconciliatory move, ills it partially attributed to frequent protests, a lengthy transitional period, "instigators of chaos," and lack of confidence in the credibility of upcoming parliamentary elections. Posted by: Fred 2013-06-27 |
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