CAIRO: The Egyptian armed forces are authorized by the Egyptian people to protect the revolution, according to El-Sayyed el-Badawy, chairman of al-Wafd Party. He said, “There is no problem with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which we support as the authority which protects the revolution.” Following a meeting of the Democratic Coalition held at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party, Badawy said the military council will hand over Egypt's administration to an elected parliament and legal government following the next elections. He said the military council bears the responsibility of protecting the revolution during the current transitional stage. Badawy praised the SCAF's dialogue with Egypt's 30 political parties. He demanded the council expand that dialogue to include the Egyptian street. Badawy called on Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to not choose people affiliated with the former regime as ministers. He said ministers should possess scientific and practical abilities to meet the requirements of the mission they will be faced with during the next stage. Badawy praised the street demonstrations of January 25 and July 8. He said these demonstrations attract the attention of the entire world. However, he refused the calls to close the Suez Canal. He said the canal is one of the people's properties that should be protected, adding that the Egyptian people will not respond to such calls, which aim to destabilize the country. The statement issued by the Democratic Coalition supports the demands of the protesters, he said. According to the statement, the coalition supports the public's demands, raised by demonstrators on July 8, to complete the track of the revolution. The demonstrators do not believe the revolution has achieved all its objectives and the participants stressed the necessity of achieving those objectives. The statement also underlines the need to conduct fair trials of the former president, Hosni Mubarak, and the figures of his regime. The coalition also demanded the formation of a new government to adopt the people's demands, and said the next government should be provided with the authority to be able to meet those demands. The statement also said the next government should ensure that the transitional stage is peaceful and should manage the upcoming parliamentary elections.
