CAIRO, 5 October 2005 — Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood expects to treble the number of members it has in Parliament in November elections, encouraged by what it sees as greater political freedom and awareness in the Arab world’s most populous country. Deputy Brotherhood leader Mohamed Habib said yesterday the Islamist group would field at least 150 candidates - double its participation in the last elections in 2000, when it won 17 seats making it the chamber’s biggest opposition bloc.
“The world is interested in there being free and fair elections in Egypt, which limits the means by which the regime can oppress the people and gives a type of guarantee to people for candidacy,” Habib told Reuters. The Egyptian government has faced US calls to allow more political freedoms. Many observers attribute the government’s decision to hold the country’s first presidential election last month to American pressure.
Habib said he expected his banned but usually tolerated group to win between 50 and 60 of 444 elected seats this time. Although he expected some foul play, Habib did not think the authorities would be as tough on opposition groups as in the 2000 elections, when security forces blocked supporters of opposition parties from voting.
The authorities could use the security forces to hinder the opposition, or coerce government employees into voting for the ruling party, Habib said. “If these elections were free, fair and transparent we would expect at least 100 to 120 representatives,” he said.
Brotherhood activists were arrested during and ahead of the 2000 elections. With just weeks to go until this year’s election, Habib was surprised the authorities had yet to launch a similar crackdown. “Until now there has not been the type of detentions which happened across the group (in 2000) ... which indicates that a change has happened. But God only knows what will happen in the next few weeks.”
The Brotherhood were blocked from contesting the presidential election by tough conditions on who could stand. As widely expected, the vote was won by President Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhood and other opposition groups say Mubarak’s talk of reform is insincere and he and his party have no intention of relinquishing power.
The Brotherhood says Parliament, currently dominated by Mubarak’s ruling party, must initiate reform. “This chamber is the true foundation for change in Egypt,” Habib said. The Brotherhood had agreed to coordinate its election campaign with the Labor Party, led by an Islamist, and the Karama (Dignity) Party, Habib said.
