CAIRO,
October 15 (IslamOnline.net) - The outlawed Egyptian Muslim
Brotherhood group laid down a new plan of action for political reforms
in the country that include scrapping the long-enforced emergency law
and release of political detainees.
"The
full cycle of reforms could work only with applying democracy,"
read a 18-item document issued by the group and obtained by
IslamOnline.net.
It
called for abolishing "ill-reputed laws, especially the
23-year-old emergency law, the parties law and other legislations
which plunged the country into political stagnation".
Under
the 1977 law on parties, any new party must be approved by a
government committee, a body which has rejected around 60 requests and
approved only four, according to the Egyptian Human Rights
Organization (EHRO).
Issued
less than one month after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak promised
more political participation and partisan development, the draft urged
"crackdown on the phenomenal torture of political detainees and a
reconsideration of verdicts pronounced by military courts".
"For
the president to be a symbol for all Egyptians, his powers should be
clearly defined and presidency limited to only two terms in office
through free elections," said the document.
Right
To Mass Gatherings
Along
with power circulation, the document asked for free religious
practices and an end to shackles on use of media outlets, which are
mostly dominated by the government.
"The
judicial authority should have the only say to decide what is against
the public order," said the Muslim Brotherhood.
The
group also insisted on its right to hold mass gatherings and peaceful
demonstrations.
"People
should also be represented in parliament through free elections and
for a limited time," read the document.
The
reforms program also asked for "righteously bringing up the new
generations away from materialistic principles and
licentiousness".
But
to realize this objective, the group underlined the need to
"concerted efforts exerted freely to convey the teachings of
Islam and its true nature".
The
ruling NDP began contacts with opposition parties and other political
powers to "put into effect the directives of President Mubarak
for opening a national partisan dialogue".
Although
the Muslim Brotherhood was excluded from the dialogue call, its
leading member Abdul Monaim Abu Al-Futuh maintained the group was
ready for any such dialogue.
"We
have long expressed that we are ready for such a dialogue," he
said.
Although
officially banned since 1954, the Muslim Brotherhood controls 17 of
the Egyptian parliament's 454 seats.
