Democratic Front Party (DFP) Political Affairs Secretary Ibrahim Nawar claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) opposition group was seeking to strike a deal with the ruling National Democratic Party to maintain its current representation in parliament.
At a party conference on Saturday, at which the DFP announced its intention to boycott upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections, Nawar slammed members of the MB’s parliamentary bloc.
“Members of this bloc had the most to gain from the state-funded medical treatment program,” he said, adding that the group was more concerned with external issues–such as Israeli assaults on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque and the international image of Islam–than it was with more important domestic issues.
“They don’t talk about unemployment or take part in popular demonstrations,” Nawar said. “They had better stop working as a clandestine group and start forming a political party so they can work in the open.”
DFP President Ossama el-Ghazali Harb, for his part, said his party recognized the MB as a political force, but disagreed with the group’s ideology, especially where it pertained to the status of women and Egyptian Coptic Christians.
“I personally don’t mind talking to them, but our executive board has decided not to hold dialogue with the group,” Harb said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
