CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood has swept Egypt's recent professional syndicate elections, including the influential Doctor's and Teacher's Syndicates, stirring thoughts that the MB victories may be representative of the scope of Brotherhood popularity and trust in Egypt. Observers of the Muslim Brotherhood's wins have speculated that this victory could reflect the performance of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) in parliamentary elections set for the end of November. Some political experts believe that the FJP will be capable of taking a significant amount of seats in both the People's Council and Shura Council races, perhaps even constituting the parliamentary majority. Candidates running under the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated “Doctors for Egypt,” ticket in the Doctor's Syndicate elections took 18 of the syndicate's 24 seats. Likewise, Khairy Abdel-Dayem, a Brotherhood-endorsed candidate, was voted as the syndicate head. MB candidates won 14 of the 27 individual governate board elections, with the other 13 seats going to candidates from the Independent List. Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated members have controlled the board since the last vote, which took place 20 years ago. “The results of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate elections – in which Brotherhood doctors and those allied with them claimed a large percentage of the seats – is nothing short of a clear expression of the confidence of the masses of doctors in the representatives of the Brotherhood,” said Dr. Mahmoud Ghozlan, the media spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood. “We see this as a positive sign of our popularity in Egypt. But we believe that it also places a great responsibility on our shoulders. And we do ask God to guide us to bear it wisely,” he added. The doctor's syndicate elections were called chaotic by most observers. Most report that the voting scene was near bedlam, as voting procedures were changed on the day of the vote, and delayed one hour because the presiding judge, Mohamed Hisham Nasr, was late. Voting was again suspended for one hour for Friday afternoon prayer, as members wrapped through hallways, waiting to cast their vote. Candidates from the opponent Individual List contested the election outcomes, however the presiding judge deemed the election valid. The Individual List won 14 of the 16 Cairo syndicate board seats, and 10 of the 12 Alexandria syndicate board seats. “We're observing an organized propaganda campaign that wants to overlook the truth and show that the Brotherhood achieved an absolute victory in the elections. The Brotherhood lost 70 percent of provincial syndicate seats,” said a statement from the syndicates Independent candidates. However, the Brotherhood claimed a significant victory in last month's Teacher's Syndicate elections as well. “The Brothers have a major role be it with regards to political work or to service work. This has been organized for years. We have been constantly in touch with the street and we obtained its acceptance,” said Dr. Gamal Heshmat, an MB official. “The Brothers are not aiming for control of the cabinet. However, we respect the people's opinion and choices and the people know their own good,” he added. BM
