Members of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, running as independents, managed to secure 17 seats in Parliament in recent elections, despite heavy pressure from security forces loyal to the secularist ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
With these seats, the brotherhood forms the second-largest parliamentary bloc, outnumbering all the “legal” opposition’s seats put together.
This success in recent elections has put the government on notice that the group’s support and activities can penetrate the circles of power despite official opposition.
The spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in the Parliament, Mohammed Murci, spoke with Albawaba.com this week. Following are excerpts from the interview:
Q. What were the achievements of the group of 17 MPs in the full parliamentary session that was recently wrapped up?
A. We believe that Parliament plays an important legislative and auditing role, but we are aware of the present circumstances and the general environment, as well as the nature of the stage in which we are living.
Therefore, we are realistic and objective in our work, so we submitted 800 motions for parliamentary discussions during the last session, including requests for seizures, questioning, and bills.
In these requests, we addressed general problems, whether pertaining to education, infrastructure or information.
We also paid attention to matters abroad, particularly the Arab-Israeli conflict, and we demanded the review of the peace agreement with Israel.
The late president Sadat said when he signed the agreement that it would bring comprehensive and just peace. Where is the comprehensive and just peace in the agreement?
We have questioned the foreign ministry about its stance regarding the Israeli officials and rabbis’ threats to Egypt, and also the minister of information for Egyptian TV coverage of the Palestinian Intifada, because this coverage has fallen below what we aspire to as necessary.
Our latest activity in this respect was our meeting with the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Mousa, during which we discussed with him the latest Israeli escalation of violence. The secretary general was positive and we reiterated our support for the Palestinian resistance, whether financially or politically, which stems from our faith in the right of all people to self-determination and freedom.
Q. You achieved great success at the beginning of the last parliamentary session when you spurred the minister of culture to withdraw three novels you claimed were shameful from the market. What are the most important battles that you fought?
A. First of all, we do not consider the issue of the three novels as a battle. Our work in Parliament is normal, and we view the action taken by the minister of culture as a remedy for a faulty situation.
For our part, we salute and thank the minister for his role, since he saved the country from possible disorders similar to the riots that followed the publishing of the novel A Banquet of Seaweed by a Syrian writer.
Furthermore, the ministry of education responded to what we proposed as incentives for teachers. Egyptian TV used to describe the martyrdom operations in the occupied Palestinian lands as suicide operations, but after we submitted our questions on that, the tone changed. This is in addition to the questions submitted by MP Mohammed Mustafa on the violations at the state-owned Alexandria-based Transport and Engineering Co., after which the matter was referred to a specialized committee.
Despite [the MPs’] large number of monitoring tools, their influence is limited. It is true that we constitute the second-largest parliamentary bloc after the ruling NDP, but the opposition and independent members as a whole do not exceed 60 out of Parliament’s 400 members. Therefore, the opposition’s influence does not reach the level of decision making. But it at least limits the movement of the other side, particularly when your vision is presented without harming others.
I reiterate that our role won’t be decisive, but it requires patience, persuasion, and gathering of powers to provide good results.
Q. There are rumors in Egyptian political circles these days about dissolving Parliament, and in particular, from some perspectives, due to the Muslim Brotherhood member activities there. What are your comments on that?
A. I think these are fantasies, and I can confirm that there are no plans to dissolve Parliament. Some journalists are speculating, but so far there are no obstacles in the path of our parliamentary life.
On the other hand, we work in harmony with other blocs in Parliament and have not done anything to miff the government.
Q. Do you have to resort to placating the regime to keep it from getting angry?
A. Anyone who talks about us placating the government either ignores the facts or does not know anything about the Muslim Brotherhood. We have never been harsh with the people or the government. This is due to the fact that we talk about Islam, the religion of moderation. We always seek a calm, objective and balanced way, but at the same time insist on justice.
Q. What about your relations with the other opposition parties, and the secular ones in particular?
A. Our relations are good with all of them. For example, our relations with the leftist Assembly Party are good, and we consider Khaled Mohyiddin, the Assembly Party leader, as an important citizen with valuable longstanding parliamentary experience.
We coordinate our work with other parties without having any predetermined attitudes towards any of the MPs. We cooperate on what we agree on, and forgive each other for what we differ over. There is ample space for cooperation between us and the opposition parties on the issues of freedom of speech and political reform.
Q. When a number of Muslim Brotherhood members were arrested before the last Shura Council elections, you raised the matter in Parliament. But you did not do anything after the recent arrests. Why?
A. The arrests that took place before the Shura elections were connected with the Constitution and the parliamentary rights of the people. The attack against some citizens as they submitted their candidacy documents was not a private issue, and therefore we adopted it.
But we did not take up the issue of the recent arrests in Parliament, so that we would not be accused of pushing our private issues - despite the fact that I believe this was a public issue connected with the application of the state of emergency law, which we demand be cancelled.
Q. Finally, do you want to reiterate anything?
A. I would like to reiterate that Parliament is not our objective. We want this society to occupy its position among other nations.
I also want to confirm that we are always part of the Muslim Brotherhood, and we are aware of the price we pay for that. We want this Parliament to become a real one. What could be wrong with a minister being questioned by Parliament for a mistake he made? The minister is a human being who may make a mistake.
I do not want to simplify the matter, and I am fully aware that the whole issue needs review. We, as members of the Muslim Brotherhood, reiterate that the Islamic Sharia’h (law) is enough to protect the interests of individuals and the society as a whole.
