26 April - 2 May 2001
Issue No.531
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 April - 2 May 2001 Issue No.531 |
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Shura showdown
The Muslim Brotherhood's 17 parliamentary deputies were in uproar this week after security forces arrested three group members who planned to stand in the Shura Council elections. Gamal Essam El-Din reports
A stinging confrontation erupted on Saturday between People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour and 17 deputies representing the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood in parliament. Sorour had refused to give the floor to Mohamed Mursi, the Brotherhood group's parliamentary speaker, to deliver an "urgent statement" about the arrest last Thursday of three group members who planned to run in Shura Council elections in Sharqiya governorate. The Brotherhood's deputies raged at Sorour's refusal before walking out.
An indignant Sorour threatened to refer Mursi and his colleagues to a parliamentary ethics committee. "You will never be allowed to impose your will on the Assembly," Sorour told the Brothers. "Is this the democracy you ask for? You claim it is democracy that brought you here but now you go against this democracy and seek to impose your will on the Assembly. I will never let you."
Explaining the background to events, Sorour said, "an urgent statement was submitted by some MPs who wanted to know why the police detained some people and where those people are. But the People's Assembly is not the place to complain about these arrests. It is enough that I drew the Interior Minister's attention to the arrests and referred 'their statement' to the Defence and National Security Committee."
The Brotherhood's statement, "The Assassination of Democracy," says, "while the government assures us that the Shura elections will be marked with integrity, the Sharqiya governorate's State Security Investigation Office gives unprecedented orders for the detention of three persons: Mohamed Abdullah (a science lecturer at Zagazig University), Sayed Abul-Nour (an agriculture professor at Zagazig) and Abu Bakr Metkis, (an intern at Zagazig). While they were registering themselves as candidates for the Shura elections, the three men were abducted. So far nobody knows their whereabouts. The parliamentary deputies of Sharqiya did their best to find out why the three were detained but failed to receive any response." Responding to the charge, Interior Minister Habib El-Adli sent a letter to Speaker Sorour late on Saturday claiming, "the three men were by no means kidnapped. They were arrested on the basis of sound legal measures."
Mursi told Al-Ahram Weekly, "The arrests are unprecedented. In previous elections, this kind of candidate was usually arrested before going to register. But it was different this time. They (the police) waited for them until they came for registration and then arrested them. This is clearly unlawful."
The Shura Council election is usually a pallid affair. But this year, the Muslim Brothers, buoyed by their success in elections to the People's Assembly and the Bar Association, had announced that they would contest the Shura elections for the first time.
Although registration for the elections ended on Monday, it is not clear how many Brothers will run. Brotherhood sources initially said that about 20 members would run as independents. But only four have been identified so far. They are Mohamed Amer in Giza, and three in Alexandria: Salah Mubarak, Ibrahim Abdel-Malek and Khaled El-Zafrani.
In all, the number of candidates running in the Shura elections is almost 750, compared to under 400 in 1998. As in the People's Assembly elections, most nominees are either official members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) or members of the NDP running independently. There are 92 official candidates. The number of independents is almost 500.
Surprisingly, official opposition parties stayed away from the elections. The number of opposition candidates does not exceed 50. The most important of these is Mohamed Kamel, a millionaire and a member of the liberal Al-Wafd Party in Menoufiya governorate. Kamel has tried before to win a seat in the People's Assembly or Shura Council but failed because he has a formidable foe in Kamal El-Shazli, minister of state for parliamentary affairs.
A significant development in the Shura elections is the number of women candidates: now an unprecedented 18. Most of these are running as independents. Two of them, Galila Awad in Sinai, and Sawsan El-Kilani in Ismailia, were members of the outgoing People's Assembly. TV announcer Gamila Ismail is running for election in Cairo's Gamaliya district. Ismail, the wife of Independent MP Ayman Nour, will run against veteran NDP Shura member Mohamed Ragab.
By contrast, the number of Christian candidates is a lowly six. Topping this modest list is Wagih Kheir Ikladios, a businessman, who will run against NDP candidate Helmi El-Giziri in Cairo's Al-Azbakiya district. Al-Azbakiya is also being contested by Essam Abbas, vice-president of the giant Arab Contractors Company and husband of Nagwa Abul-Naga, chairwoman of Nilesat TV Channels. This should make the contest the most competitive in Cairo.
The number of candidates in Cairo has reached 64, the highest in all governorates. The majority of candidates in Cairo are either NDP official candidates or NDP independents. Topping the NDP list of candidates are Minister of Manpower Ahmed El-Amawi (Al-Zeitoun), businessman Sayed El-Rawas (Sayeda Zeinab), Shura Council majority leader Mohamed Ragab (Gamaliya) and NDP Youth Secretary Nabih Al-Alakami (Qasr Al-Nil).
In Alexandria, all NDP candidates are new, with Mohamed Farag Amer the most prominent. Amer is a famous food manufacturer and chairman of Alexandria's luxurious Smouha Sporting Club.
The NDP list of candidates includes two ministers, five tycoons and seven former MPs. Running independently are 25 former MPs, most of them NDP members.
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