As Egyptians held their breath last week waiting for the vote count in the race to Egypt’s top executive job, the president; the pivotal question was: would the job go to
As Egyptians held their breath last week waiting for the vote count in the race to Egypt’s top executive job, the president; the pivotal question was: would the job go to the representative of an Islamist current or to one who calls for a civil State? Many of the civil State supporters, among them the Copts, were wary at the hegemony of the Islamist current over the country should an Islamist be elected for president, given that Egypt now has an Islamist-majority parliament.
Many may feel perplexed at the wariness towards the Islamist current, and the confidence gap that separates it from the liberals. After all, the Islamist candidates’ electoral platforms were replete with impressive rhetoric on the protection of the freedoms and rights of all Egyptians, and the respect of plurality. Yet the distrust and alarm of the liberals remain strong; they are persuaded that once the Islamists reach power they would drop their masks and reveal the by-now familiar deep-rooted racism and bigotry, and would go ahead with implementing discriminatory policies.
The alarming question then remains: What do the Islamists envision for Egypt? What is their concealed agenda?
I have before me a paper that may rightly be called a prospectus, which carries the logos of both the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). Under the letterhead of “The Guidance Bureau – the follow-up department”, the prospectus reads as follows:
Important and urgent – to all the Brotherhood branches in the governorates:
Date: 21.06.1433 Hijra – 12.05.2012 AD
Serial number: 122/33/S/M
The peace of Allah and His mercy and blessings be upon you.
The martyr Imam Hassan al-Banna, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, says: “We do not ourselves seek to rule. If we find someone among the nation willing to carry this burden and perform in good faith towards Islam and the Qur’an, we will support him and his followers and supporters. If we find no-one to do so, then we will work to rule according to our principles, and we will work to extract the rule out of the hands of every government that does not rule according to the commandments of Allah.”
Amid all we are going through at the moment, do not rest assured by the current state of affairs and forget that our mission is for a sea change. The Divine says: “Do not rest assured with those who oppress, lest you are held by hell.” Hence, the following instructions:
1. Any MPs, whether in the People’s Assembly or the Shura Council, in whose constituencies Dr Mohamed Morsi or Dr Abdel-Moniem Abul-Fotouh do not garner a majority vote will not be fielded in any future parliamentary elections, neither will their campaign managers.
2. Monitoring committees should be set up in every branch. These committees should determine the areas where the majority of the electorate will vote for the following candidates: Ahmed Shafik, Amr Moussa, and Hamdein Sabahi. The constituencies should be precisely specified, and the details sent directly to Dr Mohamed al-Beltagui.
3. Dr Hassan al-Brince is in charge of disqualifying the vote in the specified polling stations. This should be done with the utmost firmness and precision, either through marking the name of an extra candidate—an Islamist—on the voting ticket, or through hindering the voters from going into the polling stations, or through resorting to any method that can change the vote.
4. The supervisors of the polling stations should be contacted by any possible way, and should be persuaded to change the vote in favour of Islam. This matter should be followed up with Dr Essam al-Erian directly.
You must understand, brothers, that our interest lies wherever there is the sharia of Allah, and this can only be by preserving the [MB] group and preserving Islam. You must also understand that we are after a root change, and should work to exploit all accessible reformist methods to attain the phase of change.
May Allah give us success to serve Islam and Muslims.
The deputy to the Supreme Guide, Engineer Khairat al-Shater
This communiqué exposes the hidden intentions of the MB and the FJP, and unashamedly uncovers the methods they employ to manipulate the vote, hinder voters, and mess with the minds of the supervisors of the polling stations. I do not know whether or not the Higher Election Committee got wind of this communiqué, or if it did anything about it. But I do know that it is a racist document that instigates sedition; it lacks any mention of Egypt, the homeland, freedom, or justice; it discloses the hidden intentions of the Islamist group.
WATANI International
27 May 2012