Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri responded to Parliamentary Speaker Saad al-Katatny’s calls for his resignation, saying “The government will not stop down. We are governed by the Constitutional Declaration, which does not give parliament the right to withdraw confidence.”

ELECTIONS:

 1) Former Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and the Islamist candidates Mohamed Morsi and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh have emerged as the clear front-runners in the presidential race, following the announcement of the final slate of 13 candidates. [AP, English, 4/27/2012]

2) The official presidential campaign of former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman announced on April 27 that it will not support any candidate for president after Suleiman’s disqualification. An official statement posted to Facebook explained, "[The campaign] was created for Omar Suleiman, and will remain only for him. We have embraced an idea and we will always be inspired by his morals and principles." [Egypt Independent, English, 4/27/2012]

3) Representatives from the presidential campaigns of Hamdeen Sabahi, Abul Ezz al-Hariry, and HIsham al-Bastawisi held a meeting on April 26 at the headquarters of the National Association for Change to agree on a single revolutionary candidate in order to avoid splitting the vote. [Egypt Independent, English, 4/27/2012] [al-Shorouk, Arabic, 4/27/2012]

 PROTESTS:

 4) Protesters began entering Tahrir Square on the morning of April 27 in preparation for a demonstration to “save the revolution,” organized by Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafi Dawa group and al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya. Protesters are also calling for the cancellation of Article 28 of the presidential election law (which bars appeals to the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission) and some are advocating the dissolution of the SPEC itself. Relatively few Brotherhood members were present in Tahrir Square, and the group claimed protesters would rally in governorates outside Cairo. [al-Ahram, English, 4/27/2012] [al-Masry al-Youm, Arabic, 4/27/2012]

 CONSTITUTION:

 5) A meeting scheduled for April 26 between the Supreme SCAF and representatives of political parties to discuss criteria for membership in the constituent assembly has been postponed for a second time until April 28. Meanwhile, Parliament is working on its own criteria for reformulating the constituent assembly, disbanded by an April 10 court ruling. Parliamentary speaker Mohamed Saad El-Katatni has asked Mahmoud El-Khodeiry, head of the legislative and constitutional affairs committee, to work with representatives of political parties to build a consensus on procedures to form a new assembly. [al-Ahram, English, 4/27/2012] [al-Youm al-Saba’a, Arabic, 4/27/2012]

PARLIAMENT:

6) Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri responded to Parliamentary Speaker Saad al-Katatny’s calls for his resignation, saying “The government will not stop down. We are governed by the Constitutional Declaration, which does not give parliament the right to withdraw confidence.” [al-Shorouk, Arabic, 4/27/2012]

7) Parliament is preparing a draft law that would allow husbands to have intercourse with their deceased wives up to six hours after death. Egypt’s National Council for Women is campaigning against the proposed law, saying it “marginalizes and undermines the status of women and would negatively affect the country’s human development." [YNet, English, 4/27/2012]

NGOS:

8) The US State Department denied on April 26 reports that the Ministry of Social Affairs refused permission to eight American nonprofit groups to operate locally. “Our embassy in Cairo reports that they think it was bad reporting; that in fact, no decisions have been made by the Egyptians,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters. [State Department, English, 4/27/2012]

Photo Credit: AP

Image: 3776962504_0.jpg