CAIRO: The Egyptian security forces prevented Muslim Brotherhood members from applying for the upcoming Shoura Council (SC, The Upper House of Parliament) elections by force in Menufiya, said Hamdy Hassan member in the People s Assembly (PA) affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group to The Daily Star Egypt. According to Hassan, the Egyptian security forces were extremely hostile. The action s only interpretation, as Hassan said, is to prevent the MB candidates from participating in elections. What happened in Menufiya has nothing to do with the usage of the MB logo Islam is the solution [that has caused lots of controversy since it was used in last year s PA elections]. The candidates were just submitting their applications. The elections have not started yet, Hassan added. Hassan also indicated that the security forces have detained Abd Al-Maksoud Al-Amam, one of the MB's candidates for the Shoura Council, among many others. Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, member in the PA affiliated with the National Democratic Party told The Daily Star Egypt that he doubts the news. Kwaitah indicated that in his city, Domietta, four members affiliated with the MB were able to nominate themselves, and no one prevented them. However, Gamal Eid, executive director for the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, confirmed the news and told The Daily Star Egypt that the action was expected. The government is still continuing its strategy of suspending members of the MB due to the government s disagreements with the group, Eid said. However, Eid believes that the government should not deal with the MB group as a terrorist group, on the contrary the government should embrace the group and allow it to practice in public. Eid said that the MB group is, so far, the strongest opposition group and is well accepted by the public. Currently a joint committee including PA and SC members is finalizing the new political rights law. This law will implement change in the constitution s Article five, which prohibits political activity based on religion. Diaa Rashwan, political analyst in Islamic studies in Al Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies told The Daily Star Egypt in a previous interview that the government has put itself in a such a predicament by changing Article five just for the sake of clamping down on the Brotherhood.
