Muslim Brotherhood defies govt
2005-05-06 09:20
Cairo - The banned Muslim Brotherhood has been in open confrontation with Egyptian authorities for the first time in 24 years with its wave of protests demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's "dictatorship".
The movement, banned since 1954 but still ranking as Egypt's leading opposition force, is stepping up its demands for reforms ahead of presidential and legislative polls.
Under growing domestic and international pressure, the 77-year-old Mubarak agreed last February to amend the constitution to allow multi-candidate elections for the first time in Egypt's history.
The amendment is to be discussed in a parliament plenary session on May 10, but Mubarak has yet to announce whether he will run for a fifth six-year term in presidential elections in September.
Under the proposed changes, a candidate would need the support of 10% of lawmakers and other members of regional and local councils, all bodies which are dominated by Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP).
"The Muslim Brotherhood is using foreign pressure on the Egyptian regime to improve its own political and legal standing," said political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah.
"They want real representation in parliament that would reflect their political weight in Egypt's political arena, and they want to be able to form a political party," he said.
The Brotherhood had 17 candidates elected to parliament as independents in 2000 elections, which it charged were marked by widespread fraud.
Abel Fattah estimated the group could clinch 30 to 35% of parliament's 453 seats in free and fair elections.
The next parliamentary polls are due in November.
"No to cosmetic reforms, yes to real reforms," was the rallying cry on Wednesday from thousands of marchers who heeded the Brotherhood's call for protests in eight provinces across Egypt.
Opposing "corruption"
They also denounced the state-owned media as "corrupt" and chanted slogans calling for the abrogation of emergency laws which have been in place since the assassination of president Anwar Sadat in 1981.
"No to dictatorship", "Yes to freedom" and "Islam is the solution," they chanted as they clashed with security forces who broke up the protests with tear-gas, batons and water cannons.
"We want to build a large national front for reforms and against corruption," said Brotherhood chief Mohammed Mehdi Akef.
"We shall continue to fulfil our legitimate and national duty. We will not give not up our demands for rights for our people, in peaceful and civilized ways," he added.
Police reported 400 arrests across the country with 350 Muslim Brothers subsequently placed in preventive detention for 15 days for having violated a ban on street protests and allegedly "wounding several officers and soldiers".
The Brotherhood said as many as 1&nsbp;546 of its followers had been arrested.