FJP MEMBER RECOMMENDS LAW ALLOWING PRIVATE FIRMS TO ASSUME POLICE DUTIES

Cairo, 29 Rabiul Akhir 1434/11 March 2013 (MINA) – The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is currently mulling draft legislation aimed at allowing the state to use private security firms for domestic policing duties, prominent FJP leader Saber Abul-Fotouh said on Saturday (9/3).

“The legislation would give privately-owned security companies the right to carry arms and make arrests,” Abul Fotouh told Ahram as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) Monday (11/3).

The proposal relates to a large number of national strike ongoing Egyptian police in several cities in Egypt, also fill the security vacuum in the pyramid’s country.

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“I’m calling for a draft law to be submitted to the Shura Council, and put before a popular referendum, to allow private security firms to safeguard the state,” Abul-Fotouh told the media.

“I also recommend the formation of popular committees tasked with safeguarding the citizenry and state institutions in the event that police continue their strike action,” he added.

Abul-Fotouh describes the ongoing strikes as “the blackmail of the interior ministry by former regime loyalists who are spearheading a counter-revolution, which is to blame for Egypt’s current state of turmoil.”

Critics, however, argue that the proposals will simply serve to alienate the public and stir up further unrest.

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Zakareya Abdel-Aziz, a former head of the Egyptian Judges Club, slammed the notion as “utterly absurd,” warning that such moves – if they were put into effect – could potentially lead to civil war.

Abul-Fotouh, for his part, insisted the proposal was his own and had “nothing to do with the FJP,” stressing that the move was not intended to serve the interests of any particular individuals or groups.(T/P03/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)