Egypt’s military ruler, Tantawi, lashes out at Muslim Brotherhood criticisms

Egypt’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on Sunday expressed “extreme indignation” over the Muslim Brotherhood’s questioning of the military’s continued support of the cabinet and urged the Islamist group “to look to the future with the spirit of cooperation.”

The Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which has the biggest bloc in the parliament, had described Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri’s cabinet as a failure and criticized the army for continuing to support it, in a statement on Saturday.

“Is it a desire to abort the revolution and destroy the people’s belief in their ability to achieve their goals? Or is there an intention to defraud or influence the forthcoming presidential election?” the Brotherhood statement said.

Referring the Brotherhood’s statement, Tantawi said, “We were careful not to be provoked, but what happened recently is enough.”

The Freedom and Justice Party had threatened on several occasions to hold a no-confidence vote on the cabinet, but the military council has said the parliament does not have the right to hold such a vote on the cabinet.

Tantawi called “on all to be aware of history’s lessons, to avoid past mistakes we do not want to see repeated, and to look to the future with the spirit of cooperation.”

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power after the popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, has stood by the cabinet and its head Kamal Ganzouri.

“When we called for the resignation of the government, its head refused, and this was unfortunately supported by the military council,” the Brotherhood said in its statement.

“If anyone intends to recreate the former corrupt regime with new faces, the people are willing to move in order to revive their revolution and protect their ship from sinking at the hands of people with no sense of responsibility,” it said.

Last month, a lawsuit was brought before the Supreme Constitutional Court arguing that the parliamentary election was unconstitutional due to its complex voting system.

The Islamists said they fear the military council could push through this lawsuit should they insist on Ganzouri’s removal.

But Tantawi said he council has no intentions to seek to dissolve the People’s Assembly and dismissed speculations it could seek to influence the upcoming presidential elections.