Moises Saman for The New York Times
CAIRO ? Egypt?s military rulers have asked a panel of advisers for suggestions about handing over power to civilians earlier than the scheduled deadline at the end of June, state news media reported Sunday.
Whether the request signals an intention was unclear. It follows a week of major protests demanding an immediate handover, and the request may be an attempt to help calm the unrest. The military council took power at the ouster last year of President Hosni Mubarak, the former strongman, and hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Egypt last week for the anniversary of his overthrow.
The military had previously said it would give up power only after the ratification of a new constitution and the election of a president, both expected by the end of June, a schedule that could enable the military to shape the constitution by overseeing its drafting.
The panel of advisers the military is consulting is the civilian advisory council that the ruling generals created in December to put a civilian face on their rule. The group met only intermittently and formally disbanded soon after its creation in protest over the military?s crackdown on demonstrators calling for its ouster.
The remaining members, who have continued to convene from time to time, are to report back to the military council on Wednesday.
The consideration of an early exit also comes amid signs of a growing accord over the terms of a handover between the military council and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that now dominates Parliament.
Addressing what had been one of the most delicate issues for the military, a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat el-Shater, predicted in an interview published Saturday on the group?s Web site that the details of the military budget might be overseen by only a limited committee of Parliament, comparable to the Congressional committees that oversee the classified intelligence budget in the United States. The full Parliament would review only the total size of the military budget.
?This is a transparent system which, at the same time, respects the army?s confidentiality issues,? Mr. Shater said in the interview, with the French newspaper Le Figaro.
Egypt?s military council also took steps on Sunday to address its fraying relations with Washington, which has pressed the ruling generals to turn over power to a civilian government as soon as possible.
Last week relations hit a new low when Egypt barred at least six Americans working for United States democracy-building groups from leaving the country, and American officials responded by threatening to withhold military aid to Egypt.
A delegation from the Egyptian military arrived in the United States on Sunday for meetings with military officers, lawmakers and others, state media reported.�
The military council also responded to the resignations of three top Washington lobbyists who quit Friday as Egypt?s representatives over the crackdown on the democracy-building groups. On Sunday, the military-led government said that the lobbyists did not quit; they were terminated as a cost-cutting measure.
Also on Sunday, polls opened for the seventh time since the start of Egypt?s staggered parliamentary elections. Voters began to choose members of Parliament?s consultative upper house.
The chamber is all but powerless, and many anticipate that it will be eliminated when a new constitution is written. But its elected members may play a role alongside the larger lower house in choosing the 100 members of a planned constitutional assembly.
Polling stations around Cairo seemed mostly empty, and reports indicated that turnout across the country was very low. Based on the experience of the previous rounds of voting, such sparse attendance strongly favors the Muslim Brotherhood because it is the only political force here with enough organization to run an effective get-out-the-vote operation.
Under the old Egyptian Constitution, the president appointed a third of the chamber?s 264 members. Since Mr. Mubarak?s ouster, Egypt has had no president, and the ruling military council often assumes that role. But the council and election officials have said that the military will not name any members to the upper house.
Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=c1673d8607c0344457f11cea4cb4213a
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