While opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei’s National Association for Change (NAC) attempt to navigate resilient political waters in a quest for democratic reform, the Muslim Brotherhood has decided to throw its full support behind the campaign by promoting the NAC reform manifesto on their website–a move that some experts have greeted with skepticism, questioning the organization’s real motives.
Last week the Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest Islamist opposition group, posted an online petition on its website under the heading “We will make a change together.” The petition asks the Brotherhood’s supporters and sympathizers to sign the reform statement produced by the NAC.
“All political players should support the NAC demands,” Essam el-Erian, head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Political Bureau told Al-Masry Al-Youm. “The Muslim Brotherhood is a national force with a real presence in society. It’s involved with people in all provinces, and this will eventually serve the NAC.”
ElBaradei, the 68-year-old former head of the UN atomic watchdog, is promoting seven demands which include ending the state of emergency, amending the Constitution to allow for real multi-party presidential elections, ensuring judicial supervision of the voting, and putting an end to election fraud.
According to Hossam Tamam, well-known expert on political Islam and former editor at IslamOnline, the Muslim Brotherhood’s decision to actively engage in the signature campaign is more a political maneuver than a genuine undertaking.
“The Muslim Brotherhood wants to use ElBaradei as a card in its negotiations with the regime ahead of the upcoming elections,” says Tamam.
The Muslim Brotherhood is the largest and most organized opposition group in Egypt. The movement, which has been going for 82 years, is officially banned but practically tolerated by a regime that uses Islamists to distract the West, secularists and the Coptic minority from the more pressing issues stemming from Egypt’s lack of democracy and governmental political legitimacy.
In 2005 parliamentary elections, the Muslim Brotherhood won 88 of 444 contested seats, an unprecedented victory that sent shock waves to the group’s detractors and resulted in a nationwide crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood leaders and activists, with regular arrests targeting its members.
This year, the regime seems averse to the idea of letting Islamists chalk up any electoral triumph. In June, the group failed to garner any seats in the Shura Council, and claimed vote rigging as the reason for this failure. The same scenario may repeat in the upcoming People’s Assembly elections set for the fall.
“By supporting ElBaradei, the Muslim Brotherhood can put pressure on the regime and force it to reach a compromise with them, eventually granting them a certain quota of parliamentary seats,” says Tamam.
Hassan Nafae, the NAC coordinator, dismisses such claims as “destructive”.
“Judging people’s intentions and claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood wants to use the NAC is pathetic talk and aims to destroy all political work in Egypt,” says Nafae.
The NAC has been struggling to bring different political factions under its umbrella. Its efforts have been marred by internal feuds and a lack of consensus over ElBaradei’s potential as presidential candidate in the 2011 elections.
“We said that ElBaradei is not a presidential candidate and he is just doing his best to bring about change,” says Nafae. “Our main objective is to establish a consensus among political forces regarding basic demands for reform.”
The NAC has collected nearly 74,000 signatures since it was formed in April. Initial indicators suggest that this figure may increase at a faster rate now the Muslim Brotherhood is involved. The Brotherhood claims it has secured over 21,000 signatures in less than a week.
“I don’t believe the Muslim Brotherhood will support this movement for long,” says Tamam. “They are more inclined to reach compromises with the regime than become deeply involved in a big opposition movement that can change the regime.”
