Egyptian political figures and activists on Sunday expressed their anger at the ruling military council and 13 political parties after a meeting between the two sides failed to result in new decisions, dpa reported.
The crisis meeting late Saturday came a day after thousands of people protested in central Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand the lifting of the state of emergency and an end to military tribunals for civilians.
The joint statement that followed afterwards did not meet the minimum ambitions of the people and the revolution and was only devoted to extending the transitional period, Abdel Moniem Abul-Fotouh, a potential presidential candidate, said.
"If the military council had the will and the desire, they can hand over power in February or March of next year," Abul-Fotouh said.
Mustafa al-Naggar, the representative of the newly-founded Al-Adl party at the meeting, said he had revoked his approval on the statement issued by Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and left the final decision to the party's high committee after criticism from party members.
Members of the SCAF, which had been ruling the country since February, had promised the meeting a review ending the 30-year state of emergency and halt military trials of civilians and announce their decision within two weeks.
The council also promised to study the possibility of issuing a law to bar members of the disbanded National Democratic Party from practicing politics for two years.
Chief of Staff Samy Anan promised the parties representatives that an election law would be amended to cancel an article that prevents political parties from contesting seats allocated for independents in the November parliamentary elections.
Egypt's opposition says that allowing individual candidacy in elections would allow supporters of ousted president Hosny Mubarak to enter parliament.
Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, another potential presidential candidate, said the statement does not represent the will of the Egyptian people, considering it a "trap."
"They only met the demand of changing the electoral law, but the others demands were referred to in a totally unconvincing way," activists and political expert Amr Hamzawy said, adding that he "totally rejected" the statement.
Egyptian activists and political forces are critical of the country's military rulers at what they perceive as their foot dragging on erasing the legacy of the Mubarak regime.
...