Group rips gov’t in Egypt

CAIRO — The Muslim Brotherhood on Monday voiced its strongest criticism yet of Egypt’s army-appointed government, saying it was failing to deal with crises in security and the economy, and reiterating a call for a new national unity cabinet.

The Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political wing and the biggest group in the newly elected parliament, also stated its opposition to the government’s request for a new World Bank loan.

“Egypt is suffering from escalating economic and security crises which confirm the failure of the government,” the FJP said in a wide-ranging statement on domestic and foreign policy issues. “There is a desire that has become clear to export more crises to any future government.”

Brotherhood leaders have this month made repeated calls for a new coalition government representing the parties in parliament. The existing cabinet is led by Prime Minister Kamal al-ganzouri, a 79-year-old who served in the post under Hosni Mubarak and was appointed by the military council in November.

Ganzouri is due to stay in office until mid-year, the end of the period of interim rule being overseen by the generals due to hand power to an elected president at the end of June.

Although the Brotherhood has said it will not contest the presidency, the lengthy FJP statement underlined the group’s desire for a strong say over government in the post-mubarak era.