June 16, 2011

A Setback for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

Earlier this week the Muslim Brotherhood announced an alliance with another Egyption party, the Wafd party:

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood forms coalition with liberal party

CAIRO — Egypt’s most organized and powerful Islamist movement on Monday announced it intends to join forces with one of the nation’s oldest liberal parties, presenting a formidable coalition for upcoming parliamentary elections.

The alliance would unite the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Wafd Party, a liberal party established just after World War I, to run on one candidate list in the elections scheduled for September. The move is likely to be a significant boost for the Brotherhood, a well-organized political group that expects to take a third of parliament’s seats.

More than two months after a popular revolt, Egyptians now want tourists to come back to their country.

The move surprised some analysts because of the long-standing rivalry between the two groups, and likely startled some secularists and liberals.

I asked our Egyptian correspondent, Huda N. (not her real name), for what this alliance looked like from her view on the ground in Egypt. She responded:

The coalition between the Muslim brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party with the Wafd Party is a sign of fear from the brotherhood. For months now the Muslim brotherhood has been threatening that they would run for more than half the seats in the parliament, and that they would get them.  But lately they have sensed that their assets in the streets are decreasing, and they have heard that most liberal parties are going to form coalitions together and run for parliament in a fixed list to be able to face the brotherhood. That’s why they have changed their policies and won’t run as individuals. The coalition with the Wafd is going to give them a boost in the future elections. They have been trying to contact other liberal parties for more coalition but were refused especially by Free Egyptians Party which is going to form coalitions with other liberal parties except the Wafd. 

The strange thing is that the Wafd branch in Alexandria is refusing to ratify this coalition, and is skeptical of the brotherhood intentions, especially that some of their leaders have declared their intention of applying the Strict Shariaa laws and have indicted the liberals and the socialists of being infidels and devils.

Why is it important for the Muslim brotherhood to gain more than third the seats in Parliament? Having the third of seats in the Parliament means that they have the power to veto any decisions as well as the power to pass any laws. At the same time it is the responsibility of this newly formed parliament to choose the committee responsible for legislating the new constitution which will decide the form of government in Egypt whether it is Presidential or Parliamentary. For the Brotherhood being in control of the Parliament means forming the constitution as they desire and there is no guarantee for freedoms and equality among all citizens. 

Many politicians (even the Prime Minister Essam Sharaf) and liberal parties have been pressing in an attempt to postpone the Parliamentary elections so that the constitution could be legislated first. But the Military council does not listen.  Muslim brotherhood are against it of course. They say that this is an attempt to circumvent the will of the people who voted in the March referendum on the constitutional amendments.  Their plan is clear, Parliamentary elections first, they gain more than third of the seats and be the ones responsible for drafting the new constitution and of course in the end apply the Shariaa law against the will of most Egyptians. 

N.B: The Wafd Party is the continuation of the old Wafd Party which was the ruling party before the 1952 coup.  It was supported by many people at the time. In 1953 Gamal Abdel Nasr abolished all political parties Wafd included. It was re-established in 1978. It is a liberal Party headed by Mr. Elsayed Elbadawy from May 2010. It was one of the paper parties during the Mubarak period.

It's fascinating to learn from Huda that things aren't going as well for the Muslim Brotherhood as they had hoped.  But their alliance with the Wafd party gives them an opportunity to continue their mission of implementing Shariah Law, which oppresses women and non-Muslims in the historically Islamic, and brutal, fashion.