Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood To Form Political Party

[oberliner]

Source: AP (via NPR)

Egypt's long banned Muslim Brotherhood said Tuesday that it intends to form a political party once democracy is established, as the country's new military rulers launched a panel of experts to amend the country's constitution enough to allow democratic elections later this year.

The panel is to draw up changes at a breakneck pace — within 10 days — to end the monopoly that ousted President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party once held, which it ensured through widespread election rigging. The initial changes may not be enough for many in Egypt calling for the current constitution, now suspended by the military, to be thrown out completely and rewritten to ensure no one can once again establish autocratic rule. Two members on the panel said the next elected government could further change the document if it choses.

The military's choices for the panel's makeup were a sign of the new political legitimacy of the Muslim Brotherhood, the fundamentalist group that was the most bitter rival of Mubarak's regime. Among the panel's members is Sobhi Saleh, a former lawmaker from the Brotherhood seen as part of its reformist wing.

The eight-member committee, which met with Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi on Tuesday, also includes a Christian supreme court judge, along with other judges and legal experts, one of its members Mohammed Hassanein Abdel-Al, a legal scholar told The Associated Press. The panel is headed by Tareq el-Bishri, a widely respected former judge and scholar who was once a secular leftist but later became one of the most foremost thinkers of what Egyptians refer to as the "moderate Islamic" political trend and is seen as a bridge between the movements.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/15/133771433/egypts-muslim-brotherhood-to-form-political-party

[MasonJar]

1. Scary, but not surprising.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Why scary ?

:shrug:

[dipsydoodle]

2. I guess they have no choice

if they are to run as a party. In the past they were not allowed to field candidates : their candidates had to stand as independents.

[oberliner]

4. How do you think they will do?

Do you have any sense of what parties would do well in Egypt's hopefully upcoming election?

[dipsydoodle]

5. Of the current parties

I'm not sure which one is which anyway. All I've read is that ElBaradei's is one of the smaller ones. I also don't know how many independents The Brotherhood had before parliament was dissolved. I'm not paranoid and honestly don't believe it will turn out like Iran once The Brotherhood is in play.

Doubtless their parties will come up with load of knew names anyway which we'll need to get familiar with............notwithstanding ending a sentence with a preposition. :)

Could be a bit like this I suppose : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUBAx8jbYNs

Whatever - I wish both the Egyptians and the Tunisians the very best for a bright new future.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

11. Personally i'd wager that the brotherhood will garner between 20 to 35% of the votes N/T

[alp227]

6. religion and democracy do NOT mix n/t

[BOG PERSON]

7. i don't see why religion and democracy should be any less compatible

than nationalism and democracy, or money and democracy, or racialism and democracy.

[alp227]

8. i meant religious political parties

Think about how the Christian right has wrapped itself around the Republican Party. Would you want Republicans running American government?

[BOG PERSON]

10. i do not think republicans should be legally forbidden from holding office, no

[Very_Boring_Name]

13. Freedom of religion is a necessary component of a democracy

A country that does not have freedom of religion is not a democracy.

[Tx4obama]

9. Muslim Brotherhood promised not to field a candidate for president.

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood plans political party

CAIRO (AP) -- The long banned Muslim Brotherhood said Tuesday it will form a political party once democracy is established in Egypt but promised not to field a candidate for president, trying to allay fears at home and abroad that it seeks power. Still, the fundamentalist movement is poised to be a significant player in the new order.

Full article here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-02-15-15-45-15

[Bodhi BloodWave]

12. correct, they have stated they will be fielding a candidate in 7 years i think

in the presidential election then(assuming my memory isn't playing tricks on me)

[Tx4obama]

14. I have not seen that anywhere. Got a link? n/t

[Bodhi BloodWave]

15. let me look around, i came across the article 3 or 4 days ago somewhat by accident

so i might not be able to find it again. I will try my best tho :)