CAIRO - The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) have turned over a new political leaf. After more than eight decades of 'secret work', the group have finally found a way into the political arena, via a legally founded party. Last week, an ad hoc judicial Committee, set up after the revolution endorsed the Freedom and Justice Party founded by the Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, the group is expected to hold internal elections within a few days to choose three new members for its Executive (Guidance) Office, to replace Mohamed Morsi, who has become Chairman of the new party, Mohamed el-Katatni, its Secretary-General, and Essam el-Erian, its Deputy Chairman. According to the Muslim Brotherhood's bylaws, the three new members have to be elected within 60 days. The Freedom and Justice Party, the first new party to be formed after the popular revolt, that ended three decades of Mubarak's rule, embodies the “climate of freedom Egypt has come to witness since the revolution, drawing on the country's democratic renaissance,” the Brotherhood's leader, Mohamed Badie, told the semi-offical daily Al-Akhbar. “The Egyptian people were for long deprived of freedom and democracy, but, thanks to their determination, they can now define the future of their country,” he added. For the group's Secretary-General, Mahmoud Hussein, approval for the party “is a basic confirmation of the change the revolution has made”, since the Parties' Committee under the defunct regime used to put obstacles in the way of the formation of new political parties. Hussein stresses that the freedom and Justice party is independent of the group and will operate according to its own bylaws and regulations. The party's leaders have already started work nationwide, organising premises and rallies, and seeking coalitions with other political powers, as well as deciding on candidates for the parliamentary elections due in September. The nascent party has also designed its official website that will be launched later this month, different from the Muslim Brotherhood's site (www.ikhwanonline.com), again to stress that the party and the group are separate. Ahmed Abu Baraka, a key member of the group, who was in charge of founding the party, says that the endorsing of the party “marks the beginning of democracy in Egypt after the revolution, allowing the group to emerge and operate legitimately and publicly in the political arena, after working in secret for decades”. He adds that, now that the party has been legalised, all the founding members all over the country have started forming sub-secretariats and choosing representatives for the party's congress and political bureau. Such measures must be completed a month before the party's congress. Abu Baraka notes that, although the Muslim Brotherhood and the party are separate, the latter will of course benefit from the group's experience over 83 years in the social, economic and political fields, in order to draw up a plan to resolve Egypt's problems. According to him, the Freedom and Justice Party will also co-operate with all the other political parties to help rebuild the country. Late on Friday, the party held its first rally in working-class district of Shoubra el-Kheima, north of Cairo, attended by more than 5,000 people. Addressing the gathering, el-Erian said that the newly-established party would not seek a majority in the coming Parliament, but would rather work with other political powers to form a national coalition in September's parliamentary elections. “The [Freedom and Justice] Party is now in consultation with all other political trends, from the right and the left, old and new parties, Islamic and liberal powers,” el-Erian added. “Such a coalition would save Egypt in the coming four years and open the door smoothly for the formation of a national government to take over the country's affairs. The Party's commitment to such a coalition reflects its concern for the public's best interests.”
