The Democratic Alliance of 43 political parties has decided to postpone their group meeting until Saturday.

The parties were expected to meet today at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party.

Alliance members were expected to discuss the current political situation in Egypt and the recent deal signed with the military council.

No reason was given for the delay.

Last Saturday, 13 political parties met with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to discuss several controversial issues that have arisen during the transitional period after the January 25 revolution, including the newly amended electoral law, the reactivation of the emergency law and the referral of 12,000 civilians to military courts.

Nine of the 13 parties that attended the meeting were members of the Alliance.

However, the group was heavily criticised by forces that did not attend the meeting with SCAF for signing the deal because it did not adhere to the demands of democratic reform that were initially set out by the attending parties themselves. The deal also caused ripples within the parties that signed, which led them to agree to meet again to announce their next move.

For example, SCAF did not agree to abolish the emergency law, but promised that it will only use it for particular crimes; and that military trials of civilians will continue but only in cases specified by military judiciary law.

The parties that signed were accused of succumbing to pressure by SCAF and betraying the 'goals' of the revolution.

It was reported earlier today that Tantawi met with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to discuss the electoral law. It is not yet clear if any changes have been made to the law or not.