November 27, 2010
DEVOTED TO DEMOCRACY:
The Brotherhood's last battle?: Mass arrests and dramatic scenes of police clashes have placed the Muslim Brotherhood centre stage during the election campaign. Has it been good for them (Amira Howeidy, 11/25/10, Al-Ahram Weekly)
The Muslim Brotherhood opted to contest Sunday's parliamentary elections despite calls by some opposition forces to boycott the poll in the absence of guarantees that the vote would be free and fair. And since campaigning began in earnest more than two weeks ago, it is the Brotherhood that has been at the centre of the maelstrom of media interest, both local and international, no mean feat when you consider that the group is fielding 130 candidates compared to the ruling National Democratic Party's 839 and the legal opposition's 300 plus.In the words of Hossam Tammam, an expert on Islamic movements, the MB is providing "the most sensational element in the elections".
The Muslim Brotherhood won 88 seats in the 2005 elections, a result that it is striving against all odds to repeat. And part of its strategy to do so is to draw media attention to every obstacle, hurdle and incident of harassment the group has faced in each phase of the electoral process.
The MB is another ally we're incapable of recognizing as such.
