Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie called for the amendment of the constitution to facilitate the nomination of independent candidates for the 2011 presidential election. In his weekly address, Badie pushed for the amendment of the constitution to open the door to anyone who wants to run for the presidency and to give the people the right to shape their own future. This is considered the first time the Muslim Brotherhood has expressed a clear stance regarding the forthcoming presidential election. Badie further called on the opposition to pressure the regime to release political prisoners, bolster democracy, provide guarantees for a fair election process, and abolish legislation restricting these freedoms. The Supreme Guide said the Brotherhood is keen on working with other opposition powers to push for the seven demands for reform included in ElBaradei's petition, and to motivate the people to endorse these demands. In related news, the Brotherhood announced last week that it has collected more than half a million signatures for ElBaradei's pro-reform petition. Even though the Brotherhood has been a banned political group since 1954, it has been participating effectively in parliamentary, local and professional syndicate elections. Members from the Brotherhood who ran as independent candidates in the 2005 parliamentary election managed to obtain 20 percent of the seats. Translated from the Arabic Edition. !--Session data--
