CAIRO: "The Muslim Brotherhood does not want to rule Egypt at the moment and does not have any political agenda regarding any presidential candidate, said the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide, Mohamed Badea', on Dream TV's "Al-Ashera Masa'an Wednesday. This was Badea's first television interview since his election as the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide, their highest authority, last January. He continued saying that the Muslim Brotherhood will choose the best presidential candidate to support based on his electoral program. Badea' also said that the largest opposition group is not opposed to anyone who wants to run for president, including the President's son, Gamal Mubarak. "If he is going to present a new agenda vowing reform to the people then we don't mind him running for president, he said. On the other hand, Badae' suggested that President Mubarak needs to resign from his post as head of the National Democratic Party and become "a president for all Egyptians. As for Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Badea' remained ambiguous regarding whether the group is supporting him or not. "ElBaradei has not officially announced that he is running for presidency, however the Muslim Brotherhood completely agrees with him on his call for fair and free elections [which can be done through] a number of constitutional amendments and cancelling the emergency law, he explained. Badea' asserted that the authorities' hostility seems to be mostly targeted at members of the Muslim Brotherhood through the emergency law, which has been in place for nearly 30 years. Thus, the call for cancelling emergency law is currently one of the group's main objectives. He called on all political powers in Egypt to stand together in the face of this "dangerous state referring to the continued implementation of the emergency law. A continued crackdown by security forces on the Brotherhood, with hundreds detained since the beginning of the year including key figures, has been explained by political analysts as a way to contain their influence in a year of parliamentary elections. Badea' said that the names of all the Muslim Brotherhood's candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections will be announced shortly before the elections take place. The show's host inquired about the status of the Muslim Brotherhood internally, a situation which she described as "vague and ambiguous. Badea's responded by saying that differences in opinion was only natural and that there are no rifts within the group. During the show, Badea' also discussed the April 6 Youth Movement and the recent protests. "The Muslim Brotherhood students supported the movement by participating, in addition MB MPs submitted investigation requests at the People's Assembly regarding the way the activists were treated, he said. The supreme guide said that they plan on collaborating with other opposition parties and groups, which shows their willingness to cooperate with anyone calling for reform, adding that "the MB extended their hands to all groups in an effort to strengthen the opposition.
