Nawal Saadawi says no to Muslim Brotherhood
Oct 31st, 2009 | By Bikya Masr Staff | Category: News
CAIRO: Prominent Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal al-Saadawi criticized what she called “the unclean coalition” of some political movements that have allied with the Muslim Brotherhood under the pretext of fighting against the succession of power from President Hosni Mubarak to his younger son, Gamal. Her comments come only weeks after dozens of political groups and leaders formed a coalition to combat Gamal’s move to power, including the Islamic Muslim Brotherhood.
She told Egyptian newspaper al-Youm al-Saba’a that the political movements in Egypt do not have enough popularity compared to the Muslim Brotherhood and that the Islamic group has been working and gaining much respect on the streets since the 1970s. She said that these movements “circumvent [other groups] to establish such coalitions with the MB because they lack popularity.”
In a way, she argued, the opposition is using the Brotherhood to get their legitimacy with the people increased, but this will lead to coercion by the Brotherhood.
Saadawi explained that she is not against the idea of “coalitions” as long as it is “based on respect for others, respect for principles and this matter is not verified in the case of a coalition with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
She argued that “the group claims that they are seeking democracy and freedom, but at the same time they deprive women and non-Muslims from seizing power and they claim that women are equal with men, but in the framework of Islamic law that permits polygamy.”
She described the Brotherhood as “a contradictory group” and a coalition with them would not reflect a genuine desire for a transition to democracy and citizenship, as much as “the greed of the opposition in power.” She added that “the problem does not lie in succession of power, but in informing the community of the principles of democracy and citizenship.
“Those who say they are against the succession have to work with the community and not the Muslim Brotherhood,” she argued.
**reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam
BM
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[...] alliance has been called an “unclean coalition†by prominent feminist and writer Nawal al-Saadawi. She criticized those opposition factions who “circumvent [other groups] to establish such [...]