Muslim Brotherhood downplays takeover fears
Mohammed Badie, the head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, speaks during a press conference in Cairo in this March 16, 2011 file photo. / MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images
CAIRO - The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said Tuesday he is prepared to compromise with the ruling military on the formation of a new government, and that fears of the "Islamization" of the country are overblown.
Mohammed Badie, the Brotherhood's general guide, spoke as Egyptians were voting in runoffs for the first round of parliamentary elections, which have been dominated by the fundamentalist group and the hard-line Al-Nour bloc.
"We must live in harmony not only with the military council, but with all of Egypt's factions, or else the conclusion is zero," Badie told the private Al-Mehwar TV station. "There will be reconciliation between the three powers: the parliament, the government and the military ruling council."
His comments appeared to be an attempt to reassure Egyptians and foreign allies that the Brotherhood remains committed to democracy and does not want to take the country down an extremist path.
An Egyptian army soldier guards at the roof of a polling center next to an electoral poster for a candidate of the Al-Nour Party, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011.
/ AP Photo/Nasser NasserThe Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best organized political group, grabbed about 37 percent of the vote, according to partial results released Sunday. But the Al-Nour bloc won nearly a quarter of the vote for the ultraconservative Salafis, who seek to impose strict Islamic law in Egypt.
The strong Islamist showing came at the expense of liberal activist groups that led the uprising against Hosni Mubarak, toppling a regime long seen as a secular bulwark in the Middle East.
Egypt runoff exposes tensions between Islamists
Ultraconservative Islamists make gains in Egypt
Elections which began on Nov. 28 are staggered over three stages and conclude in March.
They are the first since Mubarak's ouster and the freest and fairest in living memory. Voters are choosing both individual candidates and parties and runoffs on Monday and Tuesday will determine almost all the seats allocated for individuals in the first round, about a third of parliament's 498 seats.
In theory, the new parliament is tasked to select a 100-member panel to write the new constitution. But the ruling military council has floated a set of guidelines and standards for who joins the panel, sparking anger among the Brotherhood and its allies who accused the military of trying to hold on to power.
Gen. Hassan el-Rueini, a member of the military council that has ruled Egypt since Mubarak's fall, also said that the new parliament will not have the authority to form a government, setting the stage for a possible show down with Islamists, who are expected to hold majority of parliament seats.
Badie, however, tried to downplay a potential conflict with the military, saying "they will not insist and we will not insist."
"If there is a hair between us; we will not cut it," he said.
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a) Politicians, activists and journalists who breathlessly sing the praises of mass immigration and multiculturalism.
b) radical secularists who are always desperate to change the subject to religion in general—as is there is even one majority-Christian country that has even one tenth as many problems as the best majority-Muslim country. As for the atheistic paradises, no one seems to know where they actually are. North Korea? China?
It has to be understood that Saudi Arabia (and Saudi front organizations) are behind a lot of this. As backwards as Saudi Arabia is, it has plenty of money to set up front organizations that lobby relentlessly for open immigration---to the West from 3rd world, mainly Islamic nations. Just like China and India want to have a support base in the West and are keen to get their people in, so does Saudi Arabia want a following of Radical Islamists in Western nations who will do its bidding. Why do you think we even have open immigration at a time when it's completely unnecessary? All the supposed economic and social arguments have been debunked for years and there's always someone anxious to stifle the debate anyway.
The politicians, activists and journalists who breathlessly sing the praises of mass immigration are not all stupid and naive. A lot of them just pretend to be stupid and naive while cynically promoting the wishes of the Saudi (and other) gov'ts for more and more immigration.
@tis the season, remember the reason for the season...it's about Christ! And Christians do more for this world then any other group in history so stop YOUR hate speach.
So far they seem to be doing a fairly good job of it, considering from where they started.
If you believe otherwise of them, you're a damn fool.
The absolutely greatest difference between so called 'flawed' Arab Democracy, and Western or Free World Democracy, is:
Islamic Democracy means that Islam MUST remain superior over ALL OTHER 'subservient' and 'inferior' religious beliefs and movememts!
Regrettably, our "naively diplomatic" Free World leaders, fail to realize, that it's a ONE-WAY STREET, AGAINST what remains of The Free World.
The exception to the concept of being "naively diplomatic",
applies particularly to our Moslem advocate, enemy President,
Barack Hussein Obama - who DELIBERATELY AND KNOWINGLY
supports all sorts of Anti-America and Anti-West movements.
And listen up, naive one:
It is THEIR HOLY RELIGIOUS DUTY to 'EXPORT' and FORCE Islam onto ALL, and to ALL corners of the world!
Yeah.
And listen up, naive one:
It is THEIR HOLY RELIGIOUS DUTY to 'EXPORT' and FORCE Islam onto ALL, and to ALL corners of the world!
Islam comes with a political system already defined within is scope of influence. This system is extrememly patriarchal and oppressive. It lives to promote itself at the cost human rights and commercial freedom.