CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood announced their participation in the coming April 6 strike, the group's deputy leader told Daily News Egypt. Mohamed Habib explained that Brotherhood students in different universities will actively participate in the strike. On their part, the group's leaders and members will issue a statement detailing and analyzing the reasons behind this strike, Habib said. "We will highlight the problems and corruption in Egypt, as well as the government's failure to deal with internal conflicts, Habib said, underlining the main points in the statement. Deputy head of the Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc Hussein Ibrahim, told Daily News Egypt that the bloc will discuss the strike's demands in parliament on April 6. Ibrahim said that Brotherhood MPs will contribute to the strike by discussing it in the PA, saying it will be more helpful to the cause, "especially that anytime Brotherhood members are not present in the PA, the government uses this chance to pass important draft laws. Last year, the Muslim Brotherhood refused to take part in the April 6 general strike. However they participated in the following May 4 strike. Ibrahim said the group maintains the right to examine any movement thoroughly before it decides to join it, but added that they have never doubted the intentions or goals of the April 6 strike. According to political analyst at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Nabil Abdel Fattah, the Brotherhood is stuck between a rock and a hard place. "On the one hand, the group is reluctant to participate in the strike so as not to set off security officials. On the other, if they don't participate, they will lose their credibility among the public, he said. He explained that the Brotherhood realize their chances of establishing a relationship with the government are low, so they decided to participate in the strike to please the group's supporters, especially given the absence of other strong opposition forces. Other groups are also keen on participating in the April 6 strike. Political parties such as the Islamist Labor Party, the Karama Party, the Kefaya movement and the "No to exporting gas to Israel movement have announced they are participating in the strike. However, the Democratic Front Party said that it will not join the strike. This is the second strike organized by the April 6 movement. The strike was initially called for via Facebook last year. This year, the April 6 Youth Movement renewed calls for a general strike.
