Cairo, May 06: President Hosni Mubarak challenged the Egyptian opposition on Thursday to spell out their political programmes, warning them against “chaos,” in his first speech since returning to Cairo.
Mubarak, 82, arrived in the capital this week from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he convalesced after surgery in Germany in March.
In his first live speech to an audience since the operation, Mubarak told a Workers’ Day celebration he remains committed to political reforms and supports an independent judiciary and free elections.
“The upcoming elections will be free and have integrity,” he told the cheering audience.
A parliamentary election is to be held later this year, followed early next year by a presidential poll. Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981, has yet to announce whether he will stand again.
“In this delicate period, there can be no room for those who fuse change with chaos,” he said.
He welcomed an increase in social activism but added: “I have apprehensions about those who slip … into agitation that subjects Egypt and its sons to the dangers of regression.
“I say to those who raise slogans and content themselves with posturing: This is not enough to gain the trust of the people. They must respond to the questions of the poor. What can they offer them?” he said.
He challenged opposition parties to submit their programmes on investment and job creation, and on foreign policy.
—Agencies