After weeks of equivocal statements, reformist Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh has announced that he will run for president, in supposed clear defiance of his organizationÂ’s decision not to field a presidential candidate, according to a Reuters report published Thursday.
I guess Jerry Lewis Abu Moussa has a competitor for the job... |
The 60-year-old doctor affirmed that he would run as an independent in the election slated for December.
“He speaks to the frame of reference of the Egyptian people, which is moderate conservatism. None of the other candidates are like that,” Ahmed Osama, an official spokesperson for Abouel Fotouh’s campaign, told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
| There is no such thing as a 'moderate' or 'reformist' member of the Muslim Brotherhood. |
Abouel Fotouh, working with at least ten close advisers, is immersed in hammering out the details of his platform, which will focus on education and development. In a monthÂ’s time, the platform will be unveiled, according to Osama.
In recent years, Abouel Fotouh has risen to the fore as a dovish voice within the 83-year-old Islamist organization. His liberal views on women, Copts and the role of Islam in politics set him at odds with the groupÂ’s hawkish leadership.
| Supposedly. It just may be the way the MB can 'win' the election and put a smiley face on the new administration, all the while getting ready to drop the hammer on the rest of Egypt. |
The tension between Abouel Fotouh and conservatives culminated in his exclusion from the Guidance Bureau, the groupÂ’s highest executive body in an allegedly fraudulent poll in 2010. He has nonetheless maintained his appeal within the ranks of young, more open-minded Brothers.
Weeks after Hosni Mubarak stepped down, some of these youths launched an online campaign to endorse Abouel FotouhÂ’s candidacy for presidency. Since then he has only made vague statements on the matter.
The Muslim BrotherhoodÂ’s position on the candidacy was unequivocal. After a high-level meeting, hawks within the group affirmed an earlier decision not to field any presidential candidates and added that they would not back Abouel FotouhÂ’s candidacy if he decided to run.
Now the group might have to deal with the tension caused by Abouel FotouhÂ’s announcement. His candidacy is expected to exacerbate the rift between the old and young factions within the Muslim Brotherhood, says Diaa Rashwan, an expert on Islamist groups with the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
“Abouel Fotouh is considered one of the group’s founders and he is very much liked by many youths,” said Rashwan. “His nomination will add to the debate within the Muslim Brotherhood. It will at least raise the question of why not back an Islamist who comes from the Muslim Brotherhood.”
| Because the MB wants Moussa, who the west 'knows' and deals with from his time at the Arab League. You want a smooth, oily diplomat type in charge of the front office while you're remaking the country in your own image. |
A division over this question has already begun. Half of Abouel FotouhÂ’s campaigners are Muslim Brotherhood youths, according to Osama. More young brothers, especially vocal and defiant ones, might back Abouel Fotouh soon.
Abouel Fotouh seeks to market himself as the missing link between Islamists, on the one hand, and secular and Coptic voters on the other. Speaking to Reuters about recent sectarian clashes, Abouel Fotouh said: “Such sectarian strife makes me more determined to pursue the presidency. As elements of religious extremism creep up in the transition period, the country needs someone who is best connected to the Muslim, Christian and liberal sides of the political spectrum.”
| The Copts can't possibly be foolish enough to think that a 'reformist' MB is going to protect them. |
For years, Abouel Fotouh had invested heavily in building bridges with activists and politicians of different ideological camps. His membership in the Kefaya movement in the mid-2000s along with communists, Nasserists and liberals proved his tolerance and the flexibility of his political outlook.
| Or it may have been deep cover... |
Rashwan contends that this broad appeal remains restricted to the intelligentsia, and it is still to be seen whether he enjoys a similar popularity at the grassroots level.
“It is the people who vote, not the elite,” says Rashwan. “No one can predict how people will vote in the next elections.
| Which is why the MB will be the ones counting the ballots... |
"We expect the turn out to increase five times in the elections and we do not know how these new voters see the world.” |