CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood elected a new supreme guide, Mohamed Badea’ Sami, to head the group’s Guidance Office, which is their highest authority.
Badea’ will be succeeding Mohamed Mahdi Akef, who made the announcement at a press conference on Saturday.
In his first statement as Supreme Guide, Badea’ said that the Muslim Brotherhood will work on portraying the true image of Islam. “The Islam of peace, moderation and tolerance [.] respects pluralism and cooperation on the good of humanity as a whole, he said.
Badea’ is a 66-year-old veterinary professor at Beni Suef University who has been an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood since he first joined the group as a member of the Mahalla Administrative Office in 1975.
He has been a member of the Guidance Office since 1996 and a member of the International Guidance Office since 2007.
In his last statement as Supreme Guide, Akef advised the Muslim Brotherhood to constantly reform and review their agenda, regulations and positions in order to develop.
“[You] have to stick to your principles and not submit to this unjust treatment of [our] freedom and war on us, he noted.
Badea’ is known for his conservative views, and, according to expert on Islamic movements, Diaa Rashwan from Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, could lure the group away from political activism and instead focus on religious and social work.
“Badea’ is not involved in public work, he is part of the ideological work, said Rashwan.
The government crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood has intensified with the arrest of many of its members; which has affected their political presence. In addition, leaders of the group have been preoccupied lately with the Guidance Office elections.
Analyst Khalil Al-Anani told BBC news that “the Brotherhood’s withdrawal from political life, coupled with the government’s continuing crackdown on Islamists, might leave a vacuum that more militant voices could fill in the future.
Electing Badea’ was the Guidance Office’s members’ first task since its election last month.
Before the announcement was made, news reports speculated that the new Supreme Guide would either be Mohamed Habib, Mahmoud Ezzat, Gomaa Amin, Abdel Rahman Al Bar or Badea’.
Habib, the deputy supreme guide, resigned from his post in the group in objection to the Guidance Office elections, from which he was left out.
He previously 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 Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies told AFP.
“Most of the group is 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 Fotouh, 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.
“It’s time to focus on important issues including the People’s Assembly elections in November 2010 which is a priority in the coming period, Hussein Ibrahim, head of the MB parliamentary bloc, told Daily News Egypt following the Guidance Office elections.
