By Hanan Solayman
CAIRO: The announcement of the Muslim Brotherhood’s new leadership by the Shoura Council was not well received by the group’s youth, who were disappointed that the party’s leaders weren’t elected by its founding members.
The Shoura Council named Mohamed Morsy as the new Freedom and Justice Party’s chairman, Essam El-Erian as his deputy and Saad El-Katatney as the party’s secretary general in a press conference last Saturday.
The Shoura Council includes members that were not among the nearly 8000 founding members of the Justice and Freedom Party.
“The Shoura Council doesn’t represent the will of the party members. This isn’t the way civilized parties are established,” Ahmed Abo Zekry, Brotherhood member, told Daily News Egypt.
Division is spreading in the MB between leaders on one side and the youth on the other, Abo Zekry explained, adding that the Brotherhood may end up soon with only “aging leaders.”
Mohamed Akl, another young Brotherhood member, said he was “shocked” to hear the announcement.
He said that the Freedom and Justice Party’s founding members were carefully chosen, 70 percent of whom are Brotherhood members. “So how can the Shoura Council have the final say?” Akl asked.
He said that this implies that the MB leaders believe the founding members are not qualified enough.
“The party will live with the chosen leaders in the supposed temporary period for four whole years,” Akl said.
El-Erian, on the other hand, explained that if the Brotherhood’s party leaders were to be elected, the process would take nearly three months … which means lost time for political campaigning before the elections.
El-Erian cited the founding members of Al-Wasat and Al-Gabha parties, who appointed themselves as party leaders without elections.
“What we had is an indirect election. Shoura Council members who chose the party’s leaders are in fact elected from the Brotherhood’s members and when registration is done, party members have the right to demand another election … It’s only temporary,” El-Erian told DNE.
Ahmed Abdel Gawad was among the founding members of the party. Chosen by the Brotherhood, he participated in putting the party’s political program presenting his vision on how to keep the party independent from the Brotherhood. However, he has decided to withdraw.
“The method applied shows that local Shoura Councils will also choose the local party’s secretaries. I joined the party because I thought I had a role to play but I realized that it’s not true,” Abdel Gawad said.
He also expressed dismay over the newly announced contested seats in parliament that increased from 30 percent to 45–50 percent.
“These are all party-related matters that should be decided upon by founding members,” he noted.
On the other hand, El-Erian told DNE that the percentage of their parliamentary representation “is still the same.”
The Brotherhood isn’t looking for a parliament majority, El-Erian explained, but are rather looking to join a unified list with other parties that pursue the majority.
Contrary to what many MB young members believe, El-Erian reiterated that the Justice and Freedom Party will be independent from the Brotherhood. “Just wait and see the practices,” he said.
However, many young members remain unsettled. Several other young members, like Abdel Gawad, quit the party. Others walked away from the Brotherhood.
Wahid Abdel Meguid, deputy director of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said appointing leaders rather than holding elections is justifiable in the Brotherhood’s case. “It’s understandable within the secret context the Brotherhood used to work under. They’re undergoing a gradual change,” he explained.
“I wish they had established the party first and then have the founding members choose their leaders,” said Ibrahim El-Zaafarani, El-Nahda Party leader. El-Zaafarani resigned from the MB early March to found the new party.
“It’s a clear message that the Justice and Freedom party will be completely merged with the Brotherhood,” he said. The former MB member thinks the deep intersection between the Brotherhood and its political party represents a real threat to the future of its work.
