The opposition front within Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement has called on the group to pull out of Sunday's parliamentary elections following the recent arrest in Alexandria of thousands of MB members. Since the MB had already suffered losses--and in light of the absence of guarantees that elections would be fair and transparent--the group should withdraw from the contest, front members said. "This is the last chance for the brotherhood to announce its withdrawal from parliamentary elections," MB opposition front leader Mukhtar Noah told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Tuesday. " It's time the group took the bold decision to withdraw all its candidates from this electoral game, which lacks even a modicum of credibility." "This isn't due to a fear of election-related arrests, but to the fact that the state has shown that it will not allow voters to vote for their candidates of choice," added Noah. "Such a withdrawal would destroy the legitimacy of the elections." He went on to predict that some 5000 MB members--along with members of other opposition parties participating in the upcoming races--would be arrested before the end of the elections. All the government ministers running in elections, he added, would likely win seats in their respective constituencies--even if the state had to arrest all candidates not affiliated to the ruling National Democratic Party to ensure such an outcome. "We urged the MB before to refrain from taking part in this charade," Noah said. "They should have instead invested their time in making sacrifices that would lead to the amendment of the national constitution." MB opposition front leader Khaled Dawud agreed. "The MB's withdrawal at this time would embarrass the government after the recent attacks in Alexandria, which exposed the government for what it is in front of the entire world." Dawud predicted that the MB would fail to win more than four seats in the national assembly in light of what he described as the ruling party's "shamelessness." Earlier this week, the MB's international wing likewise called for the group's withdrawal from parliamentary races. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
