Cairo, Feb. 9: The Vice-President of Egypt, Mr Omar Suleiman, on Tuesday, cautioned against hasty political reforms as hundreds of thousands of people staged the biggest protest so far in the revolt against the President, Mr Hosni Mubarak’s rule.
Mr Suleiman, recently appointed by Mr Mubarak, who made a series of concessions after the unprecedented anti-government protests, also said the government would not brook civil disobedience.
“Dialogue and understanding are the ways to achieve stability in the country and to exit the crisis peacefully, with a programme of continuous steps to solve all problems,” official media quoted him as
saying.
“The second, alternative way, would be a coup, and we want to avoid that, meaning uncalculated and hasty steps that produce more irrationality,” the official MENA news agency quoted him as telling local editors.
Mr Suleiman said the government would continue talking with political factions and youth who spearheaded the protests, “affirming there will be no ending of the regime, nor a coup, because that means chaos,” MENA reported.
The former intelligence chief also warned against calls for “civil disobedience”, saying “the call is extremely dangerous for the society, and we absolutely do not tolerate it.”
MENA and state television did not say whether he spelt out what he meant by civil disobedience.
Meanwhile, as the Obama administration gropes for the right response to the uprising in Egypt, it has not lacked for advice from democracy advocates, academicians and even members of the previous administration. But few voices have been as urgent, insistent or persuasive as those of Egypt’s neighbours.
Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have each repeatedly pressed the United States not to cut loose Mr Mubarak, too hastily, or to throw its weight behind the democracy movement in a way that could further destabilise the region, diplomats say.