CAIRO: Egypt's Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, and its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) confirmed their refusal to see the military relinquish power in the near future, in comments activists believe shows the conservative group is charging forward with an apparent alliance with the military junta that has been in power since February. The Brotherhood, announced this week it would not participate in any upcoming protests in the country, arguing that the street movement is “not moving the country forward” and accused activists of attempting to make elections void. The FJP has shown itself ready to tackle the democratic process since parliamentary elections began in late November, winning nearly half the seats thus far, preliminary election results show. On Tuesday, as Cairo seemingly returned to calm after the military attacked a peaceful sit-in at the Cabinet building on Friday, leading to five days of clashes and at least 14 people killed and over 700 injured, the FJP rejected opposition proposals to handover power from the military. The said they feared this would disrupt the election process, which will determine the parliament tasked to write a new constitution in January. In a statement, the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said the proposals were unconstitutional and “will not solve the current crisis.” Instead, it called for “full-throttle efforts to complete the legislative elections.” The Brotherhood has largely kept away from the 11 months of street action in the country, including the 18 days of protests that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and installed the military into power. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) said when they took over power in February that they would remain in their position for only 6 months, but now some 11 months on from the popular uprising that began on January 25, they remain entrenched as ever in power. Activists have repeatedly lashed out at the Brotherhood, who they accuse of complicity in the military's violent crackdown and killing of Egyptian citizens this past week, last month, in October and since taking charge of the country. “The Brotherhood is powerful and has lots of supporters across the country, but they are looking like politicians who want power and are not fighting for the country,” said Ahmed, a 22-year-old marketing student and protester. He told Bikyamasr.com that “the Islamists want to get in power and have been using the military to do so, telling people that the protesters are the ones causing the problems, even though it is the military who keeps attacking people, not protesters.” During the latest clashes in Cairo, the Brotherhood and the FJP called for the military to apologize for the violence against protesters, but fell short of condemning the violence, which angered activists further, accusing the Brotherhood of taking advantage of the liberal movement that created the change necessary for their political movement and party. “It is almost funny, but too dangerous, to think that it was because we died and fought for Egypt this year that they even have a chance in politics and now they fail to support the very change that got them there. It is sad,” said Engy Mahmoud, a 29-year-old former journalist and now political activist, who said she was on the frontlines documenting the military's injustices for the past few months. “We want change and the Islamists are going to be happy if they can sit back and take our revolution away from us through their alliance with the military and the public, who are given lies as truth,” she added. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/L2aly Tags: Actiivsts, Elections, featured, FJP, Muslim Brotherhood, Occupy Cabinet, SCAF, Tahrir Section: Editor's choice, Egypt, Features, Latest News
