Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

In an interview, Major General Fou’ād ‘Allām, who spent over 25 years in the State Security Investigations Authority stated that there should be no amazement over the Muslim Brotherhood’s win of 88 seats in the People’s Assembly in the recent parliamentary elections, since the leaders of parties, including some key members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), sought an alliance with the group both before and during the elections.



He suggested that some leading figures in the NDP, particularly the old guard, could take seemingly illogical actions to serve their own interests at the expense of the party and the nation itself. He states that it is not possible that there was a deal between the NDP and the Brotherhood at the leadership level, but that there might have been deals between some key members of the NDP and the Brotherhood. Major General Fou’ād ‘Allām states that the Brotherhood candidates have deliberately been absent from some constituencies in favor of those members of the NDP old guard.



Fou’ād ‘Allām finds it strange that members of the outlawed and politically-banned group were allowed to run in the parliamentary elections under the group’s well-known slogan: Islam is the Solution. Officially Muslim Brotherhood members ran as independent candidates, but their campaign was in the name of the Brotherhood, which is legally prohibited.



Fou’ād ‘Allām states that from a legal and constitutional perspective, if the Brotherhood reached the required percentage in the local council elections, they would have the right to present a candidate for the presidency. More importantly though, he states that the Brotherhood could now declare itself a party, given the number of candidates it has inside the parliament.



Fou’ād ‘Allām states that if partisan activities remain in their slumbering state, the Brotherhood will certainly reach power, but if the parties made good use of their recent experience and do something about the negative aspects that have marred their political performance for the past 20 years, then the Brotherhood could be uprooted.



He says that the parties’ main activities were not focused on the people in the street, and that they just hurled accusations of corruption against the government, which allowed the Brotherhood to fill the political vacuum on the street.

He states that the Brotherhood will continue to confront NDP members inside the People’s Assembly and will try to show the government and the ruling party as being corrupt and useless, helping the Brotherhood to further increase its popularity on the Egyptian street.