Doaa El-Bey monitors what the Islamists are turning into The Muslim Brotherhood's decision to field Khairat El-Shater in the presidential elections was widely regarded as a departure from its policies. It distracted the attention from other pressing issues like the differences within the constituent committee and Hazem Abu Ismail's show of power when he went to submit his documents to the presidential committee surrounded by a procession of thousands of supporters who carried his poster. Al-Dostour's banner on Monday stated that grabbing the legislative and executive authorities could be acceptable but taking hold of the constitution is unacceptable on the constitutional and popular levels. Al-Tahrir had 'Brotherhood fools military council' and Al-Gomhuriya headlined 'Political atmosphere in Egypt suffers from khamaseen storm'. Al-Ahram on Sunday had 'Suggestions to re-make constituent committee'. Al-Masry Al-Youm noted 'Uprising against the constituent committee escalating' and Al-Wafd had 'Brotherhood constituent committee dying'. Ibrahim Mansour was very critical of the MBs' decision and regarded it as a sign that they did not learn from the fall of the corrupt, once ruling and now disbanded National Democratic Party (NDP). People protested on 25 January, he explained, against the despotism of the NDP and its succession plans that were in the offing before the revolution. Although the MB raised the slogan 'partnership in power rather than monopolising it', Mansour added, the group found in the revolution a chance to monopolise power. They started by entering into coalitions with the military council and the beginning was in the constitutional "patch up" that they both contrived in last year's referendum. Then the MB took the majority in the parliament and the Shura Council. Later, they monopolised the constituent committee and pushed El-Shater in the presidential elections. "Fielding El-Shater is an attempt to take over all the state's institutions and reproduce another despotic regime. He is going to be a duplicate of Ahmed Ezz. The MB did not learn the lesson," Mansour wrote in the independent daily Al-Tahrir. Abdel-Gawad Harbi wrote in his column 'We were deceived' that he was not convinced -- like many others -- by the explanations the MB gave when deciding to field El-Shater. The change in the group's policies is cause for concern. It initially declared, he explained, that it would compete for 35 per cent of the parliamentary seats, but ended up by taking more than half. Likewise, it repeatedly declared during the last year that it would not submit a candidate for the presidential elections. But it forgot all these statements and presented El-Shater as its candidate. And as usual, he added, ahead of any decision that aims to monopolise more power, it stated that it was not after power. "The MB is following the NDP's trail. The only difference is that it took the NDP years to achieve its goals whereas the MB is doing this in the first year after the revolution," Harbi wrote in the officials daily Al-Gomhuriya. Wael Qandil questioned whether El-Shater could be the consensus candidate that would appeal to the MB and the ruling military council as well as external parties. He argued that the military council considered the MB a direct partner in the political process. He regarded the amnesty given to El-Shater weeks ago together with the fact that he attended meetings held between the military council and top US officials as proof of his argument. The dramatic presentation of El-Shater, Qandil explained, was meant to deliver a message -- that was not genuine -- that the MB and the military council are on different grounds. However, he added, it is naive to think that the military council would give El-Shater amnesty if his participation in the presidential election was made against its will. Qandil expected two possible results for El-Shater's nomination: either he will be the consensus president or his participation will lead to more division in the Islamic front and provide a better chance for a candidate that the military council wants. "We should not forget that the US Ambassador to Egypt Ann Patterson came directly from Pakistan, the most prominent example of consensus settlements between the military and Islamists," he wrote in the independent daily Al-Shorouk. The differences over the make-up of the constituent committee made many members withdraw and prompted some parties to call for forming another committee. A regular columnist who uses the pen name Newton noted that the constitution is not an insignificant matter in the lives of Egyptians. On the contrary, they fought for it for long years during the 20th century and it was one of the reasons for the eruption of the 25 January Revolution. Now that we are facing a deadlock in drafting a new constitution, he wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, the responsibility is in the hands of the army which is trying to play the role of the "unbiased mediator". However, the writer found that role illogical and incomprehensible. "The army was handed the country with a complete constitution that has some defects. We do not expect that it will leave the country with a defective constitution which would change the nature and features of the Egyptian society," he added. Essam Selim also agreed that resolving the constitutional crisis is in the hands of the military council. Without a shadow of a doubt, Selim wrote in the independent daily Al-Dostour, "we are before a constitutional crisis, because according to Article 60 of the constitutional declaration, the elected members of the two houses of parliament are responsible for electing the members of the constituent committee. But the withdrawal of many members put the committee in a crisis." Resolving this crisis, he added, lies in amending Article 60 which could only be implemented by the military council which announced the constitutional declaration on 30 March. Thus, he called on the military council to correct the weak points that were in Article 60 and which led to the present crisis, namely identifying the criteria and conditions for selecting the members of the constituent committee and whether they should be MPs. The editorial of the official daily Al-Ahram focussed on the presidential election. It said the Supreme Electoral Committee responsible for the presidential elections has repeatedly emphasised the importance of abiding by the timetable and the law that bans any propaganda until the end of April. Nevertheless, various potential and actual candidates break that law on a daily basis by holding conferences and marches. "Abu Ismail was not the only candidate who broke the ban, but he was the most conspicuous by organising a march which blocked the streets," the edit read. Applying the law to all candidates and taking measures against whoever breaks the law is part and parcel of holding fair elections, the edit concluded.
