Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood rejects interim President’s Election road map

Expectedly, Egypt’s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood Tuesday rejected a road map for the return to constitutional rule issued in a decree by interim president Adly Mr Mansour, saying nothing short of the the reinstatement of President Mohammed Morsi will appease them.

The local media quoted senior officials of the Brotherhood, the group that ousted Morsi belongs to, as describing the decree issued on Monday night as ‘invalid’.

Under the road map, a panel would be named in 15 days to review controversial constitution, which was approved during the administration of Morsi.

The reviewed document would be put to a referendum within four months after which parliamentary elections would be held in early 2014. Thereafter, presidential elections would held when parliament convenes.

But the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been expressing its extreme anger at Wednesday’s overthrow of Morsi and the killing of 51 of its supporters by the military on Monday morning, says the decree comes from an illegitimate president hence making it illegitimate and invalid.

The development comes in the wake of media reports that the Tamarod (Rebels), whose sit-in at Tahrir Square in Cairo apparently began the crisis engulfing Egypt, had also said it was not consulted on the timetable.

The second largest Islamist party, the Salafist Nour, which has supported the military action against Morsi, pulled out of cooperation with the military following the killing of the 51 people described as a ‘massacre’.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s leadership has also declared an “uprising” following the killing of the protestors near the Presidential Guard barracks where they believe ousted President Mohammed Morsi is being kept.

While the Brotherhood said they were shot at without provocation as they prepared for dawn prayers, the military said soldiers at the Presidential Guard headquarters were attacked by ‘terrorists’ with guns, bombs and rocks.

Mansour has called for restraint and promised investigations into the killings.

The supporters of Morsi are also preparing to bury the dead with the North African remaining dangerously split down the middle.

The Egyptian military chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in a nationwide television broadcast on Wednesday night, announced the removal of Morsi from power and the suspension of the constitution.

Morsi was accused of putting his religious priorities before the development of the country.

Mansour continues to search for a prime minister as a delicate balance and consultations are yet to arrive at an acceptable figure. Two earlier nominations of Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, and Ziad Bahaa el Din, as prime minister have not been confirmed. ElBaradei’s name has been put forward as vice president.