An Egyptian protester holds a flare during a
demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square on 19 October 2012. (Photo: AFP - Ahmed
Mahmoud)
Discontent among the youth of the Muslim Brotherhood over the
policies of the group continues to mount, most recently with the defection of
600 members – in conjunction with dozens of sons of prominent movement leaders –
who have announced their plans to join Abdul-Moneim Abul-Fotouh’s
party.
Cairo – “Empowerment,” or taking power, in the words of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), is an aspiration that has always enticed most organized group in Egypt since its inception more than 80 years ago.
The Islamist group had never been close until Mohammed Mursi, the former leader of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) – the group’s political arm – was elected as president.
Yet the slowly growing crack in the group since the revolution may indicate that the large triumph it achieved may have brought division with it.
Brotherhood youth were involved in the uprising since day one, in coordination with other political factions through the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution. Yet many young members ended up defecting from the group, such as activists Muhammad al-Qasas and Moaz Abdul-Karim.
Qasas and Abdul-Karim joined the Egyptian Current Party, which became a rival
of the Muslim Brotherhood’s FJP.
More importantly, as a member of the Brotherhood told Al-Akhbar on condition of anonymity, 600 young activists in the group have resigned in the past month.
This is while dozens of the sons of prominent leaders of the MB endorsed the founding of the Strong Egypt Party, lead by Abul-Fotouh, who broke away from the Brotherhood in order to run in the last presidential elections.
Tensions were intensified leading up to the group’s internal elections which
took place yesterday, where Mohamed al-Katatni defeated Issam al-Arian.
While young members supported Arian, who was favored by reformists in the group, it seems clear that the Brotherhood’s influential Guidance Bureau was backing Katatni.
Al-Akhbar has learned that youth segments of the Islamist organization held a questionnaire to gauge the popularity of the contenders, using a random sample of members from both the FJP base and general conference members. Ninety percent of the respondents said they would vote for Arian.
One young member we spoke to said that he was very close to being kicked out of the MB after making complaints about internal mismanagement.
He added, “Several young members of the group who are opposed to the conservative politics of the leadership are in the process of preparing new draft bylaws to submit to the Guidance Bureau. This may spark a new crisis between the two sides,” as they expect the motion to be rejected.
According to the young Islamist, the draft bylaws have nearly reached their final stage, and only needed to be reviewed by legal experts before being presented to the Guidance Bureau.
Mostafa al-Ghonemi, member of the MB’s Guidance Bureau, commented to Al-Akhbar on this issue. He pointed out that “the regulatory committee had indeed received several proposals for new bylaws for the group in the past year and a half since the uprising began.”
Ghonemi explained that the majority of proposals submitted by young members focused on achieving broader representation for them in various administrative posts, as well as expanding decision-making beyond the Shura Council. “These are proposals that we respect,” he added.
In fact, a majority of the young members in question were against the Brotherhood contesting the presidential race. This means that, politically speaking, they are in a tight corner now vis-à-vis their leadership, which had succeeded in putting Mursi in office.
This was the conclusion reached by the twenty-something year-old youth, who expected “a new clash to take place and result in the dismissal of large numbers of young members.”
Speculation about a possible confrontation is reinforced by the presence of “growing opposition among young members to Mursi bringing his campaign staff to the presidential palace in the first days after taking office, despite pledges made earlier that there would be a separation between the president, the MB and the FJP,” according to the young MB activist.
The young Islamist, who had voted for Abul-Fotouh in the first round of the presidential elections – contrary to the will of the leadership – pointed out that the Brotherhood had tried to counter the pro-Abul-Fotouh sentiment among the youth by threatening to dismiss anyone who became involved in his campaign.
The MB leadership also attempted to entice members to join Mursi’s electoral campaign in return for promotion within the group.
The crisis that followed the MB’s decision to put a candidate in the presidential election caused outrage among the youth. There were statements voicing this sentiment being circulated by a group calling itself “Cry of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Osama Abdul-Hadi, a member of this group, told Al-Akhbar that that the whole debacle that ensued from Mursi’s candidacy has since vindicated the warnings that the Cry of the Muslim Brotherhood voiced, and not the other way around.
Abdul-Hadi said, “We had anticipated that a battle between the MB candidate and any other candidate close to the former regime would create a huge national rift, with a wide segment of the electorate refusing to vote for either candidate” – in reference to Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, who subsequently made it to the run-off round with Mursi.
Abdul-Hadi explained that what happened “could have caused a disaster were it not for the fact that several factions agreed at the last minute to put national accord first” in order to counter Shafik’s rise.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
Cairo – “Empowerment,” or taking power, in the words of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), is an aspiration that has always enticed most organized group in Egypt since its inception more than 80 years ago.
The Islamist group had never been close until Mohammed Mursi, the former leader of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) – the group’s political arm – was elected as president.
Yet the slowly growing crack in the group since the revolution may indicate that the large triumph it achieved may have brought division with it.
Brotherhood youth were involved in the uprising since day one, in coordination with other political factions through the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution. Yet many young members ended up defecting from the group, such as activists Muhammad al-Qasas and Moaz Abdul-Karim.
Qasas and Abdul-Karim joined the Egyptian Current Party, which became a rival
of the Muslim Brotherhood’s FJP.More importantly, as a member of the Brotherhood told Al-Akhbar on condition of anonymity, 600 young activists in the group have resigned in the past month.
This is while dozens of the sons of prominent leaders of the MB endorsed the founding of the Strong Egypt Party, lead by Abul-Fotouh, who broke away from the Brotherhood in order to run in the last presidential elections.
Tensions were intensified leading up to the group’s internal elections which
took place yesterday, where Mohamed al-Katatni defeated Issam al-Arian.While young members supported Arian, who was favored by reformists in the group, it seems clear that the Brotherhood’s influential Guidance Bureau was backing Katatni.
Al-Akhbar has learned that youth segments of the Islamist organization held a questionnaire to gauge the popularity of the contenders, using a random sample of members from both the FJP base and general conference members. Ninety percent of the respondents said they would vote for Arian.
One young member we spoke to said that he was very close to being kicked out of the MB after making complaints about internal mismanagement.
He added, “Several young members of the group who are opposed to the conservative politics of the leadership are in the process of preparing new draft bylaws to submit to the Guidance Bureau. This may spark a new crisis between the two sides,” as they expect the motion to be rejected.
According to the young Islamist, the draft bylaws have nearly reached their final stage, and only needed to be reviewed by legal experts before being presented to the Guidance Bureau.
Mostafa al-Ghonemi, member of the MB’s Guidance Bureau, commented to Al-Akhbar on this issue. He pointed out that “the regulatory committee had indeed received several proposals for new bylaws for the group in the past year and a half since the uprising began.”
Ghonemi explained that the majority of proposals submitted by young members focused on achieving broader representation for them in various administrative posts, as well as expanding decision-making beyond the Shura Council. “These are proposals that we respect,” he added.
In fact, a majority of the young members in question were against the Brotherhood contesting the presidential race. This means that, politically speaking, they are in a tight corner now vis-à-vis their leadership, which had succeeded in putting Mursi in office.
This was the conclusion reached by the twenty-something year-old youth, who expected “a new clash to take place and result in the dismissal of large numbers of young members.”
Speculation about a possible confrontation is reinforced by the presence of “growing opposition among young members to Mursi bringing his campaign staff to the presidential palace in the first days after taking office, despite pledges made earlier that there would be a separation between the president, the MB and the FJP,” according to the young MB activist.
The young Islamist, who had voted for Abul-Fotouh in the first round of the presidential elections – contrary to the will of the leadership – pointed out that the Brotherhood had tried to counter the pro-Abul-Fotouh sentiment among the youth by threatening to dismiss anyone who became involved in his campaign.
The MB leadership also attempted to entice members to join Mursi’s electoral campaign in return for promotion within the group.
The crisis that followed the MB’s decision to put a candidate in the presidential election caused outrage among the youth. There were statements voicing this sentiment being circulated by a group calling itself “Cry of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Osama Abdul-Hadi, a member of this group, told Al-Akhbar that that the whole debacle that ensued from Mursi’s candidacy has since vindicated the warnings that the Cry of the Muslim Brotherhood voiced, and not the other way around.
Abdul-Hadi said, “We had anticipated that a battle between the MB candidate and any other candidate close to the former regime would create a huge national rift, with a wide segment of the electorate refusing to vote for either candidate” – in reference to Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, who subsequently made it to the run-off round with Mursi.
Abdul-Hadi explained that what happened “could have caused a disaster were it not for the fact that several factions agreed at the last minute to put national accord first” in order to counter Shafik’s rise.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
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