In a challenge to their political opponents, the Muslim Brothers have lived up to their promise of drafting a civil party platform, Gamal Essam El-Din reports Since its creation 80 years ago opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood have been challenging it to turn itself into a normal political party with a clear-cut civil programme. The Brothers, opponents say, aim to turn Egypt into a religious state, and for this reason the Brotherhood will never accept becoming a secular or even just another civil party. However, this week the Brothers decided to prove their opponents wrong by unveiling a party programme in a semi-official announcement. Following the passage of amendments to Egypt's constitution in March this year that put a formal ban on religious parties, the Brotherhood had said that it would draft a programme laying the foundations for a civil party. The draft programme, which has yet to be officially announced by the Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef, is divided into eight chapters dealing with issues such as the party's objectives, the kind of political regime it wants to create, and Egypt's national security and relations with foreign powers. The chapters also deal with the economy, religious affairs and culture. In the first three chapters, the Brothers say their party is in line with the second article of the constitution, which states that Islamic Sharia law is the primary source of legislation in Egypt. "Our party aims to activate the application of this article in order to turn Egypt into a national state with an Islamic background," the programme said. Elaborating on this, the programme insists that an Islamic state is necessarily a civil state because all officials performing political roles in the state "should come by election rather than by selection, and all citizens are equal before the law regardless of race, religion and sex." The programme also emphasises the Brothers' belief in political and constitutional reform. "There should be a complete separation of powers, the rotation of power, and respect for the rule of law," the programme said. The programme insists that elections should be fair and transparent, that the constitution should reflect the Islamic character of Egypt, and that civil society organisations should enjoy independence and play a leading role in advancing society. More importantly, the programme also insists that the ruling National Democratic Party's (NDP) monopoly on political life should be broken. "This will only come through allowing citizens to form political parties freely and ensuring that elections are fair and marked by integrity," the programme said. The programme calls for local administration to be decentralised, with municipal councils being turned into "mini-parliaments" and provincial governors and city mayors being elected rather than selected. "The Brothers believe that the principle of accountability should be strengthened through reinforcing administrative control, issuing a law regulating the trial of ministers charged with corruption, and ensuring free access to information about the government and state institutions," the programme said In economic terms, the programme is more obviously Islamist, calling for a ban on all forms of economic activity that contradict Islamic Sharia law. It calls for the introduction of an "Islamic economic system" that would "get rid of all forms of exploitation, ban usury, monopoly and hoarding, and promote the Islamic principle of alms-giving." The programme also calls for further efforts to establish a common Islamic market and to achieve Arab and Islamic economic integration. "The Brothers reject all Western economic development systems, because these ignore humanitarian aspects and allow the spread of injustice on a large scale," the programme said. It also said that "Western tourists who come to Egypt should abide by Islamic sharia in terms of dress and drinking alcohol." According to the Brotherhood's programme, the Brothers hope to raise the national rate of growth from seven per cent at present to nine per cent. "National investment should be increased from 28 per cent to at least 36 per cent of GDP," the programme said, to be achieved through the implementation of five-year development plans that would mobilise "national resources to achieve the growth goals." However, the Brothers' programme also adopts some Western economic principles, such as the belief in the market economy and in privatisation. "The private sector is the core of economic development in Islam, but we also support other forms, including public and cooperative ownership," the programme said. It said that privatisation should focus on attracting foreign investment rather than on selling public assets. It also called for the rationalisation of subsidies and the establishment of independent mutual funds that would draw on money donated as alms. In terms of national security, the programme calls for the development of military industries and nuclear power stations in order to safeguard Egypt against foreign threats. In foreign relations, the Brothers' programme says that relations with the US and Western states should be based on mutual advantage. Relations with rising powers such as Russia, China and India should be strengthened to strike a balance with relations with the West. The Brothers also believe that Islamic sharia calls for peaceful co- existence. "The intervention of foreign powers in the affairs of certain states should be condemned," the programme stated, "because these violate the principle of peaceful co- existence." The programme concludes with the adoption of the 1952 Revolution's philosophy of Egypt's foreign policy, which should have "three circles: Arab, Islamic and African". However, no sooner had the programme been published than it began to face attacks, with the Brothers themselves denying that it represented an authoritative version of their policies. Essam El-Erian, a leading Brotherhood official, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the programme was a draft "given to some of the group's members in different governorates to give their comments in preparation for a final version to be officially announced next month." El-Erian said the group's leading members were still divided over whether the programme would be the first step towards applying for the status of a legal political party. "We are still in the process of preparing the final draft of the programme, and it is more important for us to know the reaction of all political forces to this programme than to use it to apply for party status," El-Erian said. At present, he said, the Brotherhood was aiming to give both political forces and ordinary citizens a chance to understand the Brothers better and how they think about power and democracy. However, some independent political commentators, such as Diaa Rashwan, of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, believe that the Brothers' programme is riddled with loopholes. "It does not say anything about the Brothers' opinion on such highly sensitive issues as the peace treaty with Israel, the Camp David accords, or Egypt's strategic relations with America," said Rashwan. Besides, he added, there are a lot of questions about the Brothers' views on the rights and duties of Coptic Christians and of women in society. "At one time," Rashwan said, "the Brothers said they rejected the idea that Copts could join the army and women could work as judges." Rashwan also believes that the present programme would be rejected by the country's Political Parties Committee. "I do not think that a party led by the Brothers, or even inspired by their programmes, such as the Al-Wassat [Centre} group, would be approved by the NDP-dominated committee," he said. Mustafa El-Said, a former economy minister and chairman of the People's Assembly Economic Committee, believes that the Brothers' programme is naive and is a mix of different elements. "It clearly supports the NDP's economic policies, such as privatisation, five-year development plans and foreign investment and the market economy," said El-Said. But at the same time, the Brothers' intention of imposing Islamic Sharia on foreign tourists is a glaring sign that they are fond of mixing religion with politics and economics, he said. "This would scare tourists away from Egypt at a time when tourism's contribution to GDP has climbed to 12 per cent and represents the largest generator of foreign exchange," said El-Said. "This is the kind of schizophrenic thinking we expect from the Brothers, and we know that their strict religious beliefs could expose the country's economy to disaster."
