Egypt

Deputy PM says will resign if unable to offer something beneficial

Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaa Eddin said he would resign if a situation arose that he could not handle. He added that the return of the Mubarak regime is impossible in light of the current political scene.

 

In an interview aired on privately-owned Al-Hayah TV channel on Saturday, Bahaa Eddin said he would resign if he was unable to offer something beneficial. He said that he had joined the cabinet in order to complete the democratic path. He said that the current cabinet's legitimacy is based on the pursuit of that democratic path.

 

Bahaa Eddin also rejected descriptions of the 30 June protests as a ‘military coup.’ “I was among the movement protesting against deposed President Mohamed Morsy. I’m convinced that 30 June expresses Egyptian people,” he said. He added that a completely wide popular movement had been formed and that it was important for it [the democratic process] to end with what people expect.

 

Regarding claims of the Mubarak regime's return, Bahaa Eddin described it as an exaggeration. People have changed, he said adding that the political scene does not allow for the return of Mubarak's regime. He also said that the return of the security state is out of question in light of public mobility and claimed that history does not repeat itself.

 

Bahaa Eddin also described the ongoing phase as "hard, especially when historian[s] write about it." He added that the decision makers in Egypt are identified according to the nature of every issue.

 

He also referred that naming his initiative after him was no longer correct, as the cabinet approved it as a program. The initiative was begun by talks between him and Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawy. “Linking the initiative with my name in media was temporary, but now it represents the whole cabinet.”

 

The cabinet initiative, according to Bahaa Eddin, assures that no political faction will be excluded so long as it avoids violence.

 

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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