Tagammu Leaders Call on Party Leader to Step Down after Radical Decisions

Senior members from the opposition’s Tagammu Party called on Refaat El-Saeed to step down after describing his decisions as ‘radical’.

The members accused El-Saeed of violating the party’s bylaws after he had ordered committee members not to engage in consultative meetings, also instructing them not to speak to the media about the party’s internal affairs.

According toTalaat Fahmy, Al-Tagammu Secretary-General in Giza, there are no rules in the party bylaws stressing they cannot communicate with the media or hold meetings.

During the recent farcical parliamentary poll, Al-Tagammu secured five seats as opposed to the 420 seats won by the ruling NDP, however, since the largest political opposition the Muslim Brotherhood opted to boycott round two of the elections due to riggings, the results make them  the largest opposition bloc although they are still a minority.

Fahmy emphasized that a number of party leaders believed that the recent decision by El-Saeed to participate in the elections was a political flaw especially as the group had initially agreed to take part if there were guarantees of integrity, but there were none. He added that the 2010 elections were the worst witnessed elections in Egypt’s history.

El-Saeed’s call to enter the elections triggered a number of party leaders to hand in their resignations, while others froze their memberships until party confidence in El-Saeed was withdrawn. El-Saeed’s term as party leader is expected to end in 2012 and he has served as the party’s president since 2003.