LI Vice-President on latest violence in Cairo: "The rule of law must be the way forward in Egypt"
London/Cairo, 10 October 2011
Liberal International Vice-President on the Bureau Abir Al-Sahlani MP was personally witness to last night's protests of the Coptic community in Cairo, which turned violent and left 24 casualties and hundreds of injured both among civilians and the military. Reacting to the appaling scenes in the Egyptian capital, Vice-President Al-Sahlani issued the following statement:
"It's unfortunate and very sad what happened in Cairo yesterday. The killings of civilians and military are unacceptable. The rule of law must be the way forward in Egypt. It's very important that elections take place as soon as possible, creating a new arena for people to express their opinions rather than turning to demonstrations every time they have new demands. Stability and democracy do not need to be in conflict with each other."
"Liberals have an extra responsibility to unite and stand in the face of oppression together and promote the rule of law and freedom of expression", concluded Al-Sahlani.
LI Vice President Al-Sahlani will report on her findings from Egypt and the Middle East following a regional visit at the upcoming 187th Executive Committee meeting of Liberal International, scheduled for 14-15 October 2011 in London.
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Liberal International (LI) is the world federation of over 100 liberal and progressive democratic political parties. LI was founded in 1947 to strengthen liberal protection from totalitarianism and communism. The founding "Oxford Manifesto" is widely considered as one of the most important political documents of the 20th century. It has since become the pre-eminent network for promoting liberalism, individual freedom, human rights, the rule of law, tolerance, equality of opportunity, social justice, free trade and a market economy.
