The Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide said on Wednesday that the group is capable of winning 75 percent of parliamentary seats in the upcoming elections in September. But Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie told the state-run news agency MENA that the Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, will only compete for about a third of parliamentary seats. His statement to MENA is the first to be given by a Brotherhood chief to the agency which was established in 1956. Badie denied any deals between the group and the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) concerning the country's political course for the post-revolution phase. He stressed the importance of the Armed Forces' role in the revolution's success and sustainability, emphasizing that during a meeting with the military council, he urged the Armed Forces to keep their promise to transfer power to a civilian authority after the transitional period is over. Badie also said the Brotherhood will not intervene in the work of its newly-established Freedom and Justice Party, but that it will only intervene in case a party member commits an ethical violation. “The party will be independent from the group, and it has the freedom to choose a woman or a Christian as chairman," Badie said.
