The Muslim Brotherhood has big hopes of becoming a major and legitimate political force, though there might be a cost, writes Amani Maged The decisions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood's Shura Council on Saturday sparked widespread debate over its choices for the leadership of its proposed Freedom and Justice Party, the number of seats it plans to contest in the forthcoming People's Assembly elections, and the relationship between the mother organisation and the new party. The choice of Mohamed Mursi as the party's president, Essam El-Erian as its vice-president, and Saad Al-Katatni as its secretary-general triggered an outcry among many Brotherhood members, not so much because of the choices themselves, but because of the selection process. Mohamed Habib, the former deputy chairman of the Brotherhood, voiced his profound sorrow at the appropriation of the rights of the founders, more than 80 per cent of who are Brotherhood members who have a long and distinguished history in the service of its cause. Describing the appointments as an arrogation of the free will of the party's founders, and as treating them like children, he said, "I totally reject this kind of attitude." He also drew attention to the fact that the three appointees were also members of the Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau, which meant that the Muslim Brotherhood would impose a complete and permanent mandate on the party. He added: "We had hoped that the party would be autonomous from the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a pioneering experience and public opinion will be scrutinising it closely." Habib also criticised the Shura Council's decision to field candidates for 50 per cent of People's Assembly seats, a matter that should also have been left to the party's constituent assembly. Also, in his opinion, the figure is too high. On the future of the party itself, he said that there were many political trends in Egypt, ranging from the Islamist to liberals, Arab nationalists and independents. While he predicted that the Islamists would garner 30 per cent of seats of parliament, he felt that the real future of the party rested on how the Muslim Brotherhood conducts itself politically and interacts with other political forces in the country. Ammar Ali Hassan, an expert on Islamist movements, holds that there was no justification for maintaining the link between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party, cautioning that such a link could gravely jeopardise the new party's future. He explained that the Muslim Brotherhood had yet to determine its own legal status. It is not a registered association subject to oversight and accountability, which could render the new party open to any number of legal challenges. He further pointed out that the Brotherhood receives funding from abroad, which would open the party -- if not a fully autonomous entity -- to charges of receiving foreign financing. There is also the possibility of it being accused of creating a paramilitary organisation by association with the Muslim Brotherhood's sporting associations, which could come under suspicions reminiscent of the case of the "Al-Azhar militias". The Muslim Brotherhood Youth are deeply divided over the Shura Council's decisions. Mohamed Maher Aql and Mohamed Shams were stunned by the council's refusal to heed the aspirations of the youth, by the failure to demarcate a clear line between the organisation and the party, and by the selection process for the new party's leadership. On the whole, they said, the Saturday meeting was disappointing. Maye Mahmoud, on the other hand, maintained that the decisions did meet the aspirations of many of the Brotherhood youth who will naturally comply with the council's decisions. According to Muslim Brotherhood Shura Council member Gamal Hishmat, the leadership of the new party will only serve a single four-year interim term. He justified the selection process on the grounds that the members of the constituent assembly of the new party do not know each other yet. However, he stressed, this would be the first and last time that the Shura Council would select the party's leaders. "The Brotherhood is anxious about the Freedom and Justice Party and it fears fragmentation. This party is a new experience for the Brotherhood. Therefore this is only a transitional step," he said, adding, "We're all human. We make mistakes and errors of judgement." Hishmat also denied any organic connection between the Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide and the new party. "They will only coordinate on major issues, such as presidential elections and stances on international agreements, so as to avoid disagreements between the two sides." Of course, he said, the Muslim Brotherhood would continue to have a political view, but there will be a division of labour, with one side specialising in political activity. He hoped that society would accept such assurances, overcome the current phase of controversy and ready itself for the transition to a new phase in Egypt's political life. In a special interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Mohamed Mursi, the president of the Freedom and Justice Party, said that he would have no objection to forming an alliance with other parties that succeed in entering parliament in order to create a coalition government, and that he would similarly have no problems in cooperating with any Islamist movements. He further stated that the decision as to how many candidates the party would field has not yet been finalised and that the secretaries of the party's chapters in the governorates would be chosen soon. These would all be Muslim Brotherhood members, he added, alluding to the 80 per cent of the party's founders who are Muslim Brotherhood members. On the Freedom and Justice Party's outlook, he said the party would be a civil one with an Islamic frame of reference. Islam is the guarantee for civil society, he said, referring to suggestions that the new constitution include an article providing that the Armed Forces serve as the stay of civil society. "That would be a strategic error, because the people are the real guarantee of a civil state," he said. When asked whether he would object to the formation of parties with a Christian frame of reference, Mursi said he would not. "What is important is that it is a civil party," adding, "religious parties belong to the Middle Ages." When asked about Iran in this context, he said it was not a theocracy but a sectarian state. On international treaties signed by Egypt, the head of the Justice and Freedom Party said: "We will respect these treaties and not abolish them. We might have been against them before they came into force. But now that they carry the Egyptian seal, we can not change them unless that is by the will of the people through an elected parliament, which we want to be a strong parliament." Addressing the selection of the party leadership, he said: "The choices reflect the will of the founders, 80 per cent of whom are Muslim Brotherhood members and who are represented by the Shura Council." He further pointed out that in the party's first convention, members could decide to shorten the interim period of the current leaders. Therefore, he said, there are no grounds for suspicion of a Muslim Brotherhood mandate over the party. Mursi also told the Weekly that relations between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Armed Forces were good. He said that Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie submitted several studies and visions for the development of Egyptian society and that he believed that they would receive a favourable response. Because the three leaders of the new party stepped down from their positions in the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau as an affirmation of the party's autonomy, their positions are now vacant. Mursi said that elections for these posts would be held in about three weeks, and that consideration is being given to increasing the number of members of the Guidance Bureau so as to enable it to cope with the additional burdens on the Brotherhood. Since the Shura Council announced that it would not be fielding a candidate for the presidency, the Weekly asked Mursi how it would deal with individuals who violated this decision. In his opinion, the matter would not be brought before the inquiry committee the Muslim Brotherhood recently activated, but rather that "the brother" would be strongly advised against running for president. In another significant development, Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, as the head of a delegation of Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau members and other Brotherhood members, visited Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb. The visit marks a precedent in the history of the Muslim Brotherhood. While the imam had met with Muslim Brotherhood members of parliament when he was serving as rector of Al-Azhar University, in order to resolve the problems of students who were Muslim Brotherhood members, this is the first meeting between a top Al-Azhar official and an official delegation from Egypt's first Islamist organisation. Participants in the meeting discussed the death of Osama Bin Laden, with regard to which Al-Tayeb said that this assassination would not put an end to terrorism arising from Israel's ruthless practices, and that the solution is to instil justice and not to apply double standards as the West does on certain issues. The grand imam went on to state that Al-Azhar was the vessel that embraced all those working in the field of Islamic proselytising. He invited all Islamist trends to participate in the forthcoming conference that Al-Azhar will be hosting on the future of Egypt, the purpose of which is to formulate a moderate religious discourse around which all Muslims in the world could converge. He agreed with Badie's belief that Al-Azhar and the Muslim Brotherhood should capitalise on the common ground between them in order to spread the true message of Islam and to combat extremist thinking. Mohamed Badie, for his part, expressed his organisation's support for Al-Azhar and its full autonomy, which he said would enable it to perform its religious mission, which is based on moderation and anti- extremism. He further praised Al-Azhar's role in defending the causes of the Islamic world and added that the Muslim Brotherhood would work beneath the umbrella of Al-Azhar on the basis of common denominators between the two organisations. He described the meeting as beneficial for the Islamic nation. Cautioning that ideological feuding jeopardised the unity of the Islamic peoples, he stressed that the future lay in unity and consensus over the midway approach that Al-Azhar represents. The supreme guide reaffirmed his rejection of violence and terrorism, and of fanaticism and the destruction of shrines. The Muslim Brotherhood, he said, represents moderate thought and action in the interests of the Islamic calling, and it looks forward to working with Al-Azhar to spread the true message of Islam.
