RISE OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
Muslim Brotherhood Parliament Speaker Creates Worries for Some
Voice of America News reports: “Egypt’s newly elected interim People’s Assembly met for the first time amid heated debate over whom to elect as its new speaker. Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Saad Katatni, won the post. The Brotherhood won 235 seats in the 498 seat chamber. That is causing worries in some quarters.
The dominance of the Muslim Brotherhood in the new parliament leadership has some Egyptians concerned because of the group’s longstanding positions on issues like women’s rights, minority rights, and Islamic shariah law.
The Brotherhood, whose slogan is Islam is the solution, won 47 percent of the vote in three rounds of parliamentary elections, stunning some secular observers. Egyptian publisher Hisham Kassem, a long-time democracy advocate, admits to having been taken by surprise by the strong showing of Islamic fundamentalist groups.
I never was so off-track as I was with my forecast for the parliamentary elections. I didn’t see the Salafi party having any presence. I forecast 10 seats for them and I didn’t think the [Muslim] Brotherhood would exceed 20 percent, said Kassem.
Egypt’s fundamentalist Salafi party, the Hezb al-Nour or Party of Light, wants the clock to be turned back and life to be lived as it was in the time of Islam’s prophet during the Seventh Century. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis agree on some points, but disagree on others ” (The Muslim Brotherhood has been and will again be the leading terrorists of the Mid East Genesis 6:11; Matthew 24:39. See the next report.)
Egypt Islamists look to build on success in polls
AFP reports: “Egyptians cast ballots for the upper house, with Islamists looking to build on their success in voting for the lower assembly as part of the first polls since a revolt ousted Hosni Mubarak.
Polling got under way with only a handful of voters at several stations, in sharp contrast to the long lines and enthusiasm around the elections for lower house of parliament.
The election for the Shura Council, an advisory body, takes place over two stages, after which members of both houses will choose a panel to draft a new constitution.
The elections are part of a roadmap for a transition to democratic rule laid out by the ruling military council that took power after the popular uprising that overthrew Mubarak last year.
The first phase of voting takes place over two days in 13 provinces, including the largest cities Cairo and Alexandria, and the second in the remaining 14.
Under the complex system adopted after Mubarak’s ouster, two thirds of the Shura’s 180 elected members will be elected via a party-list system, while one third will be elected directly.
One third of the Shura Council will be nominated by the head of state ” (Beware! The Egyptian Brotherhood is a deadly terroristic organization according to Cal Thomas. There is trouble ahead.)