The Muslim Brotherhood faces a number of challenges in the lead-up to November's elections, including a strong security crackdown, a battle over the use of its slogan “Islam is the Solution,” continued internal debates over the merits of participation, and attacks from opposition parties.
State security forces have arrested 74 Muslim Brotherhood activists in Alexandria, Sharqiya and Qalyoubiya for hanging campaign materials, reports privately-owned Al-Shorouk. Seventy Muslim Brotherhood supporters were arrested in Alexandria, 13 of whom in the Raml district where the Brotherhood is running against Minister of Municipal Development Abdul Salam Mahgoub. Muslim Brotherhood arrests in Alexandria are seen as an attempt to weaken Muslim Brotherhood competition against Mahgoub and Minister of Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Moufeed Shehab in the district of Moharam Beih, according to privately-owned Al-Dostour.
Meanwhile, at the same time as National Democratic Party (NDP) candidates have started to put up campaign materials in the Beheira districts of Rashid, and Idko, security forces have arrested some Muslim Brotherhood youth for distributing campaign materials and have taken down existing posters, reports Al-Dostour. Notably, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Zakaria al-Ganayni stressed that NDP candidates are violating the electoral commission’s guidelines by speaking in mosques, and using government buildings to hold NDP internal elections.
In related news, the legality of the Muslim Brotherhood slogan “Islam is the Solution” remains widely contested. While the Supreme Electoral Commission banned it, Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie insisted on its legality, pointing to three rulings by the court of administrative justice to the effect that it is a political not a religious slogan, reports Al-Dostour. Member of the Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau Mohammed Saad al-Katatni expressed the group's insistence on using the slogan, pointing out that the movement has already started to print posters containing the maxim, reports state-run Rose al-Youssef. Al-Katatni described the electoral commission’s decision as “administrative.” Saad Al-Hussein–another member of the bureau–described the electoral commission’s decision as discriminatory, arguing that the Muslim Brotherhood has a right to use slogans like “Islam is the Solution,” in the same way others have the right to use “Secularism is the Solution,” or “Communism is the Solution.”
Muslim Brotherhood attorney Abdul Monem Abdul Maksoud also cited a statement by head of the administrative justice courts al-Lami that stressed the legality of the slogan, reports Al-Shorouk. Maksoud argued that al-Lami’s statement has embarrassed the ruling regime.
The electoral commission’s decision to ban the slogan has also caused some “panic” for the Brotherhood, which held a meeting to discuss the dilemma yesterday, according to Al-Dostour. Badie proposed the group keep the slogan in important districts and use alternative ones in less important districts, but his suggestion did not elicit much support. Instead, most members of the Guidance Bureau called for using alternative slogans such as “Together for Change,” or “Together for Reform.”
At the same time, the Brotherhood continues to face some internal opposition, as well attacks from other opposition parties. Abdul Hamid al-Ghazali, former political adviser to the supreme guide, said 52 percent of Muslim Brotherhood members support the decision to participate in elections, not 98 percent as Mohammed Badie had previously announced, reports Al-Shorouk on its front-page. Al-Ghazali argued that a large number of young Muslim Brotherhood members oppose participation and that participation will help entrench corruption.
According to the same report by Al-Shorouk, Tagammu party leader Abul al-Ezz al-Hariri described the Brotherhood's announcement that 98 percent of its members support participation as “unacceptable talk that cannot be believed by anyone.” Al-Hariri said there had been a meeting between Tagammu President Rifaat al-Saeed and NDP leaderships, where both parties agreed to exclude the Brotherhood from the 2010 people’s assembly and divide its 88 seats in the current assembly between Wafd and Tagammu parties.
In addition, Rose al-Youssef reports that several small political parties, including Ahrar, Ghad, Egypt’s Arab Socialist Party, the Free Republican Party, the Democratic People’s Party, and Egypt 2000, have attacked the Muslim Brotherhood’s insistence on using the slogan “Islam is the Solution.” Head of the Ahrar party Helmi Salem stated that Article 5 of the Constitution bans the use of religiously-based political slogans, and that the Brotherhood has always tried to manipulate voters’ religiosity by using this slogan. Ghad President Mostafa Moussa called for the implementation of the guidelines set forth by the Supreme Electoral Commission, arguing that the Muslim Brotherhood–given its illegal status–uses any available means to achieve its goals.
Egypt's papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhorriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run, close to the National Democratic Party's Policies Secretariat
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
Youm7: Weekly, privately owned
Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
