A Muslim Brotherhood (MB) source has said that a recent meeting between the group’s parliamentary bloc leader, Saad el-Katatny, and would-be presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei had come in response to the security harassment faced by MB candidates in last Tuesday’s elections for the Shura Council (the upper house of Egypt’s parliament).
The source also said the group–Egypt’s largest opposition movement–had decided to throw its support behind ElBaradei after the regime rigged elections in favor of the ruling National Democratic Party.
MB Guidance Bureau member Rashad Bayoumi, however, denied any connection between meetings with ElBaradei and the Shura Council elections. “We support him in any case because we agree with his views on political and democratic reform,” he said.
MB Shura Council member Gamal Heshmat, for his part, said the meeting was aimed at helping ElBaradei overcome possible discord within his National Front for Change, especially in light of a recent announcement by front general coordinator Hassan Nafea that he planned to resign.
“ElBaradei has given the people hope for change, which warrants our support,” Heshmat said, calling on opposition forces from across the political spectrum to support the former UN nuclear watchdog chief.
MB parliamentary bloc deputy leader Hussein Ibrahim accused those who voiced opposition to the group’s support for ElBaradei of attempting to marginalize the MB’s role in political life. “They are being shortsighted,” said Ibrahim.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
