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Egyptian opposition parties reject dialogue with government

01 February 2011 23:21 (UTC +04:00)

Newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on Monday that Mubarak had authorized him to open dialogue with all political parties to end the Egyptian crisis, however, the offer, according to Suleiman, has been denied.

"We have already formed a coalition made up of 10 people including Mohamed ElBaradei for dialogue with the regime, but only after Mubarak steps down," Mohamed El Beltagy, a senior member of the largest opposition group Muslim Brotherhood, told Xinhua.

In his interview with Al Arabia TV channel on Tuesday, Egyptian dissident Mohamed ElBaradei said that Mubarak should not only step down but also leave Egypt in exile.

"I hope President Mubarak goes before this and leaves the country after 30 years of rule ... I don’t think he wants to see more blood," ElBaradei said.

ElBaradei arrived in Cairo Thursday evening and joined the " Anger Friday" demonstrations, saying he came back as it is a critical moment in Egypt.

Egypt’s opposition group is made of a divided and diversified group of both secular and Islamist parties. The Muslim brotherhood is Egypt’s largest opposition group that has survived since its establishment in 1928.

A number of opposition members and protesters held that several changes should be made to the constitution to allow independents who do not belong to any parties to run as president.

Newly appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said Tuesday that " dialogue is open with whoever wants to engage in dialogue," adding that the government will take steps to implement all what the Egyptians agree upon and look into alternatives.

"Mubarak will have to leave and then people will see what they will do," said Nabil Abdel Fattah, an analyst at Al Ahram Strategic and Political Research Center. Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded downtown Cairo since Tuesday morning for a " march of one million" demanding an end of the 30-year-rule of Mubarak, while other groups of smaller scales were calling for resumption of social order under leadership of the embattled president.

On Tuesday, demonstrators shouting slogans "Oust Mubarak" gathered in the Tahrir Square, the center of protests, as the opposition parties called for a general strike and a one-million- people march to the presidential palace after a week of unrest in the country.

Mubarak reshuffled his government on Monday in an attempt to defuse the week-long protest against his regime, but protesters rejected the changes and said he must give up power.