CAIRO – A leftwing Egyptian opposition party formerly known for toeing the line set by President Hosni Mubarak’s regime announced on Thursday it was withdrawing from a national dialogue on reform. The Tagammu party, which controls a handful of seats in parliament, said in a faxed statement its decision was based on “the regime’s refusal to address the minimum of the people’s demands.”
It also objected to a comment by Vice President Omar Suleiman, who warned this week that the alternative to talks with the opposition would be a “coup.” Tagammu, headed by senate member Rifaat al-Said, normally acts as loyal opposition and refused join other parties in a boycott of November’s contested parliamentary election.
Its support lags far behind the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which says it still has not yet decided whether to pull out of the dialogue, although it demands the immediate removal of President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak’s government said the parties engaged in the dialogue have agreed to the formation of a committee to look into constitutional reforms by the first week of March.
