John Kerry lands in Egypt to meet with Morsi, others
Baku, March 4 (AZERTAC). US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Egypt to stress consensus for economic reforms. Kerry, who is on a nine-country tour of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, was in Turkey before going to Egypt.
Kerry arrived Saturday to press leaders and opposition politicians to forge a political consensus in a recession-hit country seeking international financial assistance. Currently, however, opposition parties are not even planning to stand for office.
The opposition leaders Mohammed ElBaradei and Hamdeen Sabahi have, however, turned down invitations for talks with Kerry, saying they wanted to protest US interference in Egyptian affairs.
“We want to send a message that we reject US pressure,” Sabahi told the private broadcaster ONTV on Friday.
Opposition parties have announced a boycott of parliamentary elections, scheduled for April to June, over a new constitution produced by an Islamist-dominated assembly and other grievances. Officials said Kerry would seek to argue that boycotting the process would not help.
Arriving from Turkey, Kerry was scheduled to meet with Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and other officials, also talking with business leaders and civil society groups over two days. The US secretary of state will also talk meet at least one dissident, former Arab League chief Amr Mussa. Mussa is another leader of the National Salvation Front, the broad opposition coalition that ElBaradei and Sabahi also represent.
The NSF pulled out of the staggered legislative elections scheduled to start on April 22, expressing doubts over their transparency. The opposition, less organized than the ruling Muslim Brotherhood, wants the president to appoint a new government before the election. Morsi says the new parliament should have the right to appoint the Cabinet.
Since the country`s revolution two years ago, Egypt has experienced a deep division between Morsi`s Islamist allies and the comparatively splintered opposition. The country has also seen nationwide unrest recently months, with protesters taking to the streets to denounce Morsi for failing to address political and economic concerns.
US officials say Kerry will urge Egypt to make necessary reforms necessary to qualify for a $4.5-billion (3.45-billion-euro) loan package from the International Monetary Fund. Egypt announced Thursday that the country would invite a team from the International Monetary Fund to reopen talks on a loan agreed to in principle in November but put on hold by the government during December`s protests. Investment Minister Ashraf al-Araby has expressed hope that a deal could be done by the end of April.
Egpyt is under pressure to implement tax increases and reduce energy subsidies in return for the loans, moves that are unlikely to be popular amongst people already unhappy with their standard of living.
Egypt`s foreign currency reserves have also fallen to just over one-third of their level before the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak as the country`s economy continues to falter.
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