Egypt\'s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf Egypt’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on Wednesday denied rumors that the army planned to field a candidate in the next presidential elections, the official MENA news agency reported. There has been much speculation as to whether an army man would be the next president, particularly after increasing public appearances by Tantawi, including one on a Cairo street in civilian clothes which raised questions about his political intentions. “These are rumors that should not be considered. We must not waste time talking about such rumors,” Tantawi said in response to a question on whether the military would field a candidate in the next elections.
“We are not a party to the political process, we are working to hand over power as soon as possible,” Tantawi said.

The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which Tantawi heads, has yet to set a date for the presidential election. Parliamentary polls will kick off on November 28 and are to take place over four months. The military council has come in for criticism from activists for its handling of the transition from the authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak, since the veteran strongman’s overthrow in February. SCAF has vowed to hand over to civilian rule. Tantawi’s stroll in downtown Cairo last week, in a business suit and with no personal security in tow, unleashed a torrent of jokes and commentary. That’s “Tantawi handing power to ‘civilian rule’,” wrote Adel on Twitter.

Muslim Brotherhood

Meanwhile, the Muslim brotherhood has retreated from its decision to hold the presidential election after a referendum on the new constitution. The brotherhood’s new Freedom and Justice Party viewed having a referendum after the elections will not represent a challenge and will not necessarily lead to the elections being repeated. The brotherhood has objected to the new constitution saying that it will limit their political participation. Recently, the SCAF have changed a clause in the elections law to allow party candidates to run for one third of the seats in parliament that were previously set aside for independent candidates, the government said on its website. The brotherhood, which will contest up to half of parliament\'s seats, has not issued a detailed manifesto. Its leaders said the party is a civil group that has Islam as a “reference” point. They say the party seeks a constitution that respects Muslims and non-Muslims, will not impose Islamic law, and is committed to a pluralistic and democratic Egypt. The party has members from Egypt\'s Coptic Christian minority.

In other news, Egypt’s military rulers late Tuesday assured U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta they will lift a controversial emergency law but gave no sign they will do so before parliamentary elections next month, U.S. officials said. In a visit to Cairo on Tuesday, Panetta renewed Washington’s appeal to scrap the security law and said he was hopeful Egypt’s interim military government will eventually take that step. The emergency law, which allows arrests without charges and restricts the rights of defendants in special courts, was seen as a symbol of repression under former president Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Egyptian leaders told the Pentagon chief that “they are seriously looking at the first opportunity” to rescind the law, Panetta told a news conference after meeting the country’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, according to AFP. But in talks with the defense secretary, the Egyptians made no commitment to do so before a series of elections starting on November 28 that will usher in a civilian-led government.

Instead, the Egyptian officials told the Americans that last month’s siege of the Israeli embassy served as an example of why the law is still needed to maintain order in a time of turmoil following ex-president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. “We came away reassured that they understand the importance of the issue, even though they suggested the siege of the Israeli embassy and the surrounding events from their point of view renewed the need for this,” said a senior U.S. defense official. The U.S. administration, along with activists in Egypt and human rights groups, has voiced concern that “having the emergency law still in effect would cast a shadow over the election process,” the official told reporters. “We’re hopeful that they will do so before the parliamentary elections” in November, the defense official added.

In remarks published on Tuesday before Panetta arrived, Tantawi, who took charge when a popular uprising forced out Mubarak in February, said the state of emergency would end “as soon as possible.” However, he added that the emergency law, which the military widened in scope last month after protesters ransacked the Israeli embassy and clashed with police, would be lifted “on condition that the security situation stabilizes.” The law -- which has been continuously in place since Islamists assassinated president Anwar Sadat in 1981 -- had been regularly extended under Mubarak’s rule.
At the press conference with Panetta, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson said the Egyptian leadership appeared not to have made a decision yet on the timing of lifting the state of emergency. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week she hoped Egypt would cancel the emergency law well before June next year when the powers granted by the Mubarak-era parliament run out.