CAIRO: In the continuous feud between the ruling party and the Muslim Brotherhood, Ali El-Din Helal said the idea of a revolution over the constitution is rooted in the group’s ideology.
In his latest interview with Rose Al-Youssef newspaper, Ali El-Din Helal, of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and former minister, commented on the political scene in Egypt, heavily criticizing the Islamist Brotherhood group.
Helal criticized the group for the ambiguity surrounding the magnitude of its powers and number of members. “We are not talking about a political party like Al-Wafd or Al-Araby Al-Nassery; from the start there was intentional vagueness and intentional confusion between Islamic proselytizing and political activity, although there is a major contradiction between the two areas. “When I go to a sheikh, I ask for his opinion in Islamic affairs and this relation is based on obedience, unlike the political field which is based on diversity and disagreements, Helal added. “Some of them kiss Sheikh Mahdy Akefs’s hand, so they see him as their sheikh not their political leader. The spokesman of the MB parliamentary bloc, Hamdy Hassan, said that Islam never separated between religion and any other field such as politics or economics. “This is our opinions and believes and the people will decide at the end who they want.
Hassan lashed back at the NDP saying that the ruling party rigs all the elections and that Egypt didn’t witness fair elections except for few times. Answering a question on whether the Muslim Brotherhood could replace the incumbent party, Helal said that they are trying to but he doesn’t think they can.
“I don’t think their program is realistic, they never tried to merge with the other influential forces. They discuss big goals without explaining their funding sources. said Helal.
Despite the progress that was made by the Muslim Brotherhood in the last three years, Helal continued, “they could have gained more if they used better strategies.
“Every party has its own program and the people are going to decide based on it. The NDP has been the ruling party for 28 years and the result is that people are fighting over bread and oil. said Hamdi Hassan.
