Political rapprochement

The Muslim Brotherhood is reaching out to opposition parties to launch another reform initiative, reports Omayma Abdel-Latif

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"Islam is the Solution," declares a Brotherhood electoral banner in this photo from Al-Ahram archives

The Muslim Brotherhood is set to launch a new initiative for political reform, Brotherhood sources told Al-Ahram Weekly on Tuesday. Members of the banned group, considered by political observers to be Egypt's most significant opposition movement, have held a series of meetings with figures from both the Wafd and the Nasserist parties in an attempt to agree upon a collective agenda on political reform. And after years of animosity, a meeting is scheduled to take place today between the group's deputy general guide, Mohamed Habib, and leading members of the leftist Tagammu Party. It will be the first time the two parties have held formal talks.

The meetings are part of a lobbying offensive by opposition forces to push forward political reform. The idea, says Habib, is to find a mechanism to engage the government on the issue of political liberalisation that can be agreed upon by opposition parties.

"This is not about forming anti- government coalitions," Habib insists. "This effort is about looking for the common ground to create a united stand on a set of priorities in the reform process."

The initiative, still in its initial stages, has generated much media hype and not a little caution on the part of the opposition parties.

Hussein Abdel-Razek, Tagammu Party secretary-general, said "the party has in principle accepted the Brotherhood's initiative out of the belief that there should be dialogue with all forces on the political scene."

He was quick to note, however, that "the party still considers the Brotherhood's political agenda to be as disastrous for Egypt as that of the [ruling] National Democratic Party [NDP]."

The Brotherhood, though, appear increasingly willing to put aside the more controversial aspects of their social policy, at least for the time being, in order to build bridges with the secular opposition in promoting political reform and resisting American designs in the region.

Some observers view the move as part of the Brotherhood's growing efforts to challenge their illegal designation. This is the second time in less than four months that the Brotherhood has gone public with an initiative for political reform. Last March the group's supreme guide, Mohamed Mahdi Akef, announced what he described as "the Muslim Brotherhood initiative for domestic reform in Egypt".

The Brotherhood-led efforts came at a time when the three main opposition parties -- Wafd, Tagammu and the Arab Nasserist Party -- were finalising what they described as a "charter" on political and constitutional reforms. The document is due to be announced in the coming few days.

Tagammu sources say the document will now be discussed with Brotherhood leaders during the meeting.

While opposition calls for political reform are hardly new previous attempts to close ranks among Egypt's key opposition forces have all ended in failure, though since the late '90s a consensus has been slowly emerging on demands for political reform, including demands to end the emergency laws under which the country has been governed since 1981, a reduction in the powers of the presidency and the lifting of restrictions on the creation of political parties.

What is interesting about the current initiative is that it comes at a time when the region has been bombarded with western-oriented plans for reform.

"This initiative is a national effort to close the door to any foreign or western meddling under the guise of backing reform," said Mohamed El-Mursi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in parliament.

While some observers believe the Brotherhood have their eyes firmly on next year's parliamentary elections and possible electoral deals with other opposition parties the Brotherhood have denied the claims.

Political reform is expected to be high on the agenda of the NDP's second annual conference, due to open on 21 September. It remains unclear, however, whether the Brotherhood will publish its demands before or after the NDP meets, with some in the movement arguing for a delay in publication so as to allow an opportunity to take into consideration any proposals on reform emerging from the NDP conference.

Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed, Cairo University political science professor, believes the confidence building measures between opposition forces will be an essential part of any successful reform plans.

"Maintaining opposition unity is an important prerequisite for any effective political process," El-Sayed explained.

"Without unity the opposition will continue to be shackled by its traditional shortcomings: the lack of a credible alternative programme and internal divisions will ensure these reform efforts, like those in the past, fail."