CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood elected 16 new members to its Guidance Office who will lead the group for a four-year term, Supreme Guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef said.
“There has been a complete change in the Guidance Office, the election process went smoothly and successfully despite the current circumstances, Akef said in a press statement.
The Guidance Office is the group’s highest authority, and is headed by the Supreme Guide, a post currently held by Akef.
The new members include prominent Muslim Brotherhood members Mahmoud Ezzat, Essam El-Erian and Saad El-Katatney. On the other hand, Abdel-Moneim Aboul Fotouh and deputy leader Mohamed Habib are not part of the new board. Some reports had tipped Habib to be the group’s next supreme guide.
“We are a powerful group that is getting more powerful, these elections proved that the highest authority is well aware of the group’s welfare, therefore they have elected members for the new Guidance Office to lead in the coming four years, El-Katatney, who is also a member of parliament, told Daily News Egypt.
“I can see a bright future for the Muslim Brotherhood with this harmonious group, he added.
Hussein Ibrahim, head of the MB parliamentary bloc, said, “The level of change is promising, there is a variety of expertise from different fields, each with a vision and the important thing is that they are all in harmony with one another.
“The Guidance Office elections have occupied us [MB members] for a while, it’s time to focus on important issues including the PA elections in November 2010 which is a priority in the coming period, he added.
The first task for the newly elected members will be choosing a new Supreme Guide, who will be announced before Jan. 13, according to Ibrahim.
News reports speculated over the new Supreme Guide, predicting that it would either be Habib, Mahmoud Ezzat, Gomaa Amin, Abdel Rahman Al Bar or Mohamed Badee’a.
Habib had told Al-Jazeera on Saturday that he intended to dispute the decision to speed up the process because he was not informed of the new appointments. He also told Egyptian daily Al-Shorouk that there was a split in the group between a camp that demands a more active role on Egypt’s political scene and another that wants to maintain the status quo.
“The rifts within the group are very serious, Amr Choubaki, an analyst with the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies told AFP.
“Most of the group are conservatives who have little political experience outside the Muslim Brotherhood and rely on religious documents to provide political guidance, Choubaki said.
Others, including Habib and Abdel Moneim Aboul Futouh, have called for more participation in mainstream politics which has become a contributing factor to their being sidelined, he said.
The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned, but enjoys a substantive parliamentary presence – its MPs run as independent candidates – as well as popular support. – With agencies
