Al-Ahram Weekly Issue No. 242 12 - 18 October 1995
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Islamist allies party ways

By Amira Howeidy

Analysts believe that the switch from the slate to the individual candidacy system in the approaching parliamentary elections has made redundant an eight-year-old alliance between the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and the Labour and Liberal parties. The tripartite coalition was forged prior to the 1987 elections to make it possible for Brotherhood figures to run on the Labour-Liberal slates. But in the forthcoming ballot, expected at the end of November, the analysts argue that Brotherhood members no longer need the official backing of their erstwhile allies because they can contest the elections as independents.

Despite denials by Brotherhood, Labour and Liberal officials, the first sign that the alliance might have been overtaken by events emerged two weeks ago when the Labour Party's mouthpiece, Al-Shaab, published a 10-point statement expounding the party's position. This contrasted sharply with what the three allies did in 1987 when they published a joint manifesto, spearheaded by the Brotherhood's motto "Islam is the solution". This slogan was missing from the Labour Party's published programme this year.

Labour Party insiders also say that opposition to the continuation of the alliance was mounting in party ranks as a result of the government's crackdown on the Brotherhood.

"The Labour Party may end up paying the price," said a party source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The Brotherhood's actions and ideas, which are unacceptable to the government, are mistakenly thought by officials to be ours as well and we could end up losing our credibility."

In the view of Diaa Rashwan, an expert on political Islam, the tripartite alliance has already collapsed. "There are conflicting positions within the Labour Party concerning the relationship with the Brotherhood and the survival of the alliance," he said. "Moreover, the Labour Party found itself being dragged into a battle which does not concern it, as a result of the measures taken by the government against the Brotherhood. It should be pointed out that the Brotherhood's policy of escalation, in response to the government's measures, runs counter to the more peace-oriented policy of the Labour Party."

Rashwan said that many Labour members want the party to content itself with providing only moral support to the Brotherhood.

And yet Brotherhood, Labour and Liberal officials continue to insist that their alliance is as strong as ever. "The close relations between those who forged the 1987 coalition have not changed," insisted Brotherhood spokesman Maamoun El-Hodeibi. "There is coordination between us despite the switch to the individual candidacy system. This can be seen on the ground. Members of the coalition are not running against each other in the same constituency."

Despite this assertion, Hodeibi himself is running in the Cairo constituency of Dokki against Al-Hamza De'bes, a high-ranking official in the Liberal Party. Hodeibi apparently decided to nominate himself in Dokki because Adel Hussein, Labour's secretary-general, is running in Heliopolis, Hodeibi's own constituency.

De'bes, who has contested elections in Dokki for years, said he had not been informed of any coordination between the Liberal Party and the Brotherhood. But Liberal leader Mustafa Kamal Murad insisted that there was "total coordination between us and the Brotherhood".

Brotherhood figures are also running against Labour Party members in several constituencies outside Cairo. These include Talkha in the Daqahliya governorate, where the Brotherhood's Mossad El-Zeini is running against Amin Dakrouri, the Labour Party's provincial secretary-general. Efforts are being made to avoid a repetition of the Talkha situation in the constituencies of Awseem and Hawamdiya in the Giza governorate and Al-Raml in Alexandria.

Nagi El-Shehabi, Labour's assistant secretary-general for election affairs, said that as a result of the switch to the individual candidacy system, the "alliance" had been replaced by "coordination". Asked about mounting opposition within Labour to cooperation with the Brotherhood, El-Shehabi said that Labour leader Ibrahim Shukri "will not withdraw from an eight-year-old coalition just because the Brotherhood is having a hard time. It is against his ethics." But he conceded that Labour would be paying a price if "coordination" meant the withdrawal of some of its candidates in favour of Brotherhood figures.

As for the Liberal Party, Rashwan believes it has no place in the coalition. "It is clear from the many newspapers which it publishes - Nasserist, socialist and Islamist - that it does not even represent what is called the Islamist trend, but is a mosaic of mixed ideas. How can it fit into an Islamist coalition?"

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