Cairo: Largely believed to be the front runner
in Egypt's upcoming parliamentary elections, the Muslim
Brotherhood is facing problems of its own, with the loss of a
chunk of its youth force and the annulment of its coalition
with the Liberal Wafd party.
The group is fielding its candidates in the elections
through its Justice and Freedom Party, the first the movement
has declared since its establishment back in 1928.
Recognised as the best organised political group in Egypt,
the Brotherhood remains the main player on the political scene
in the post Hosni Mubarak era but the party has been riddled
by internal conflicts.
The party's youth has been calling for transparent
elections among party members to choose the party head.
The current head of party, Mohammad Moursi, was appointed
as head of party by the Brotherhood upon the announcement of
the party.
The Brotherhood also lost a huge number of its youth
members whom it fired after they insisted to join parties
other than the Brotherhood's Justice and Freedom Party.
The group also had a split with the liberal Wafd party
with whom it had entered into an agreement on sharing of seats
and coordinating candidates for the parliamentary elections.
This coalition has been dissolved after the Wafd decided
to field candidates separately, in a move that welcomed by the
day's press which called it a "political divorce".
The coalition was an issue of concern for other political
groups which saw it was "too friendly and submissive" to the
Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF).
The Brotherhood is also embroiled in a conflict with the
ruling military council upon the latter's insistence that
religious slogans not be used in elections.
The Justice and Freedom Party wants to use the
Brotherhood's original slogan "Islam is the solution".
PTI
First Published: Thursday, October 06, 2011, 19:26