Aljazeera English on the Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat al-Shater and his plans to run for the presidency of Egypt:
The USG Open Source Center paraphrased this piece from the Muslim Brotherhood web site Cairo Egyptwindow in Arabic for Weds. April 4:
“Article by Muhammad al-Suruji entitled: “10 important questions on al-Shatir’s nomination” dated 4 April. The article says that the liberals and leftists have reacted violently against the nomination of the MB candidate Khayrat al-Shatir to the office of president. They are launching a campaign of distortion, deception and accusations. Meanwhile, the Egyptian public at large is sympathetic to al-Shatir’s nomination. There are 10 facts which should be discussed in this connection. The first fact is that the MB Group changed its mind about nominating one of its candidates for the presidential office when it saw the situation in Egypt systematically deteriorating and attempts were made to outflank and neutralize the revolution. The second fact is that it is not true that the MB Group is seeking to monopolize power, but is adopting the policy of partnership with other political parties and forces. The third fact is that no divisions or splits appeared in the ranks of the MB Group, but there were differences of views. The fourth fact is that more than 50 per cent of the Shura Council of the MB Group supported the nomination of an MB candidate to run for president. The fifth fact is that it is absolutely untrue that the MB Group concluded a deal with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The sixth fact is that we should not expect a confrontation between the MB Group and the Supreme Council, particularly that MB policy is peaceful and always tries to avert confrontations with others and to please them. The seventh fact is that no power in Egypt can dissolve parliament because it was elected by the people. The eighth fact is that the scenario of Algeria or HAMAS cannot be repeated in Egypt where there is a situation that is different from Algeria and Gaza. And the tenth and last fact is that if al-Shatir wins the presidential elections, it will not be the MB General Guide who will rule Egypt although the MB Group is known for the close cooperation among its members.”
for background, see the National Geographic documentary on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood of last spring:
National Geographic ‘Inside the Muslim Brotherhood’ from Nick Norman-Butler on Vimeo.
Khairat Al-Shader had spent years in jail due to his activism in organizing the Muslim Brotherhood.
His background is in engineering and he has been a succesful businessman.
There is no question he enjoys public support and could be the next prime minister.
Recent developments suggest that Abu Ismail may be disqualified from the presidential race since his mother is claimed to have held American citizenship. If he is compelled to withdraw from the field, this will undoubtedly help al-Shater. But it also might help Abol Fotouh get some of the votes from those who liked Abu Ismail yet are disgruntled with al-Shater suddenly coming in as these nationality qualification issues were circulating.
Given the divisions in the field, I suspect that the run-off will see Amr Moussa (getting the most or second most votes) against either Abol Fotouh, al-Shater, or, if he is not disqualified, Abu Ismail. Al-Shater seems to have the edge right now but many news sources seem to be paying too little attention to the fact that Abol Fotouh has been in the race much longer than al-Shater. An Islamist would probably do well in the run-off, although Abu Ismail might be harder pressed than the other two.
I doubt that the military is going to end up intervening to try to dissolve the parliament or disrupt the election of the president. In the past they would have liked to do this but now there is much more heated opposition among most civilian actions to their constant intereference in politics. More likely is that they will try to do something with the constitutional council. Though, in that case, they will still hestitate to bring opprobrium on themselves by getting to enmeshed in the process. The court ruling is imminent and will have some bearing on the issue.
I tried to find the whole NG video but parts 1 & 2 on YouTube won’t play. Anybody have a link to the whole thing?
I saw the whole program, it is a fluff piece with no critical views of the MB, just how “all Egyptians love one another, how Muslims get along so well with Christians, how idealistic is, how the MB doesn’t want to dominate the government, etc, etc”.
Many things have happened since this program was made, including having the MB get 50% of the seats in Parliament, the Nour-Salafists another 25% and how the Liberals and Christians have withdrawn from the committee drawing up the constitution, and the MB now says they will run a candidate for President. No mention was made regarding potential changes in the peace agreement with Israel.
The most important thing to remember is that although they claim not to want dominate the gov’t, it is a fundamental belief that the ONLY way to have social justice (fair, prosperous economic system, clean gov’t) is to have a RIGHTEOUS SOCIETY…that means not just having “clear, devout” people running the gov’t, but having a society that lives up to divine law. Thus a secular state can not be a socially just one. Thus, in order to really improve society, there must be a society that lives up to the religious demands of Islam. Will the Left, the liberals, the secularists and Christians understand this and accept this?