Muslim Brotherhood Asked Ex-Spy Chief Suleiman
To Run For Egyptian Presidency
By Countercurrents.org
27 June, 2013
Countercurrents.org
The Muslim Brotherhood asked Egypt's former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to nominate himself for presidency in 2011, Hussein Kamal, former head of Sulieman's office, said on June 25, 2013.
Kamal said in a press conference in Cairo that a representative of the Brotherhood – from which current President Mohamed Morsi hails – visited Suleiman in Alexandria in the summer of 2011 and asked him to nominate himself for presidential elections.
According to Kamal, the representative told Suleiman, who passed away in July 2012, that this would be on the condition that his vice-president and executive office be made up of Brotherhood members.
"They wanted him to be a puppet president who would implement the orders of the [Brotherhood's] guidance office," Kamal said.
"They gave [Suleiman] three months to think about it, but he refused," he added.
Suleiman announced in 2012 that he would run for presidential elections. However, his presidential bid was turned down by the Supreme Presidential Electoral Committee (SPEC) because he failed to acquire the number of recommendations stipulated by the electoral law.
In a conference held to "reveal information about the Brotherhood's rule," Kamal, who currently does not hold any official position, said that he does not represent the Egyptian General Intelligence Service and is speaking for himself as an "Egyptian citizen."
Kamal, who was also Suleiman's office head when the former intelligence chief was appointed the country's vice-president during the 18-day January 2011 uprising, talked about Morsi's November 2012 constitutional decree, saying that it was sent to the presidency "in an envelope from the [Brotherhood's] guidance office."
Kamal described the performance of the Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), who have a parliamentary majority, as a "failure."
In addition, Kamal attacked Qatar calling it a "statelet."
Qatar has been a prominent source of foreign aid to Egypt since Morsi came to power.
"Who is Qatar's [prime minister] to say that his country will not leave Egypt bankrupt?" he asked.
Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassem said in January that his country would not see Egypt's economic situation deteriorate to the level of bankruptcy.
The Qatari-owned Al Jazeera Mubashar Masr news channel cut off the broadcast of the conference as Kamal made the comments.
Kamal said that former president Mubarak helped the father of former Qatar emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani when the sheikh overthrew his father in 1995.
Kamal claimed that by helping Egypt financially, Qatar wants to abuse its economy as "it is the Egyptian people who will repay these loans."
Protests hit all-time high in Morsi's first year
Egypt experienced 9,427 protests during president Morsi's first year in power, representing seven-fold increase from those seen during final year of Mubarak regime, International Development Centre claims. [2]
Egyptian dissent has hit an all-time high "since the pharaonic era," said the Cairo-based Organization.
The IDC's 'Democratic Indicator' report showed an in the number of monthly demonstrations from 176 a month in the last year of the Mubarak regime – which climaxed with January 2011 uprising – to 1140 protests per month in 2013.
The report covers the first year of Morsi's term in office, from 1 July of last year to 20 June 2013.
The number of protests seen during the first half of the year doubled in the second half, from 500 protests to 1140, eventually culminating in mass anti-government demonstrations on 30 June, the report stated.
The anti-Morsi 'Rebel' signature campaign has capitalized on the wave of public discontent, collecting 15 million signatures in support of the president's ouster, the report notes. The signature drive is spearheading calls for the 30 June protests.
According to the Democratic Indicator, labor protests (4,609) have made up 49 percent of the total number of protests, in which 60 different socio-economic segments took part.
In an indication of this, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has added Egypt to its black list of countries that violate labor rights.
Grassroots support was behind 27 percent of the protests, while participation by political and civilian activists made up 13 percent, the report stated.
Cairo came first in terms of the number of protests seen, followed by the Nile Delta cities of Gharbiya and Sharqiya. The Mediterranean city of Alexandria came in fourth.
"The categories that took part in the protests reflected the hostility of the current regime towards almost all sections of Egyptian society," the report argued.
The report went on to claim that such hostility had found its way into state institutions, including the judiciary and the interior ministry, "constituting a model of dictatorship by the ruling regime and its hope to dominate authority."
The chorus of protests throughout the year was predominantly the result of economic and social grievances (67 percent) and labor demands (49 percent).
According to the Democratic Indicator, demands for better housing and public services, along with shortages of fuel, bread and electricity, also acted as catalysts for protest activity.
Attempts by the regime to cement control over the state bureaucracy, marginalization of the political opposition, and clampdowns on freedoms, the report alleges, caused 31 percent of the protests.
The Democratic Indicator went on to claim that Egyptians employed 62 innovative methods to express their dissent, peaceful at times and violent at others.
These ranged from strikes (1,013), sit-ins (811), marches (503), human chains (80) and horn-blowing campaigns (21), as well as 18 no-bill-payment campaigns. The blocking of roads, meanwhile, accounted for 16 percent of the techniques used to voice discontent with the government.
The report claims that an outpouring of public frustration, coupled with dissatisfaction with the regime's policies among large swathes of the public, has provided fertile ground for violence during planned anti-government protests on 30 June.
The report went on to urge the president to step down before the planned protests in light of the widespread outrage he faces.
The day is expected to include an open-ended counter-demonstration by the president's Islamist backers, heightening fears of violence.
Source:
[1] June 25, 2013,
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/74921/Egypt/Politics-/Brotherhood-asked-exspy-chief-Suleiman-to-run-for-.aspx
[2] Ahram Online, Jun 25, 2013,
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/74939/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-protests-hit-alltime-high-during-Morsis-firs.aspx
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