Obama's 'partners': El-Erian to Masrawi: The Brotherhood Would Oppose the Army if It Adopts the Notion of ''Constitution First''

From Ikwan Web, via   Will at The Other News:

In a challenging clear tone, the vice president of the FJP emphasized the impossibility of changing the path set by the constitutional declaration regarding holding the parliamentary elections in September this year, then the election of a Constituent Assembly to develop the new constitution. He said: “The country has a straight line to abide by and a clear road map to follow, but there are those who want to obstruct the progress that would go according to this line. The road ahead is going to be a proclamation of a Constitution that is based on a process that gives it official legitimacy of sovereignty. 

There is nothing that can stop that path; neither a hundred million signatures or demonstrations, nor any effort to cancel the result of the referendum. What is approved can only be abolished by a new referendum, which is kind of impossible, because this would mean returning to square one.” He added: “Among the slogans of the revolution was that “the army and the people are one hand”, and we (the Muslim Brotherhood) criticized the military a lot and are still doing so, and we will tell the army - if it violates the Road Map set out by the Constitutional Declaration - that we bid to differ and we clearly say "no" to any such attempt. If the army adopts the notion of “Constitution First”, we will be the first to stand against that."

El-Erian said that the essence of the referendum is the constitutional declaration, despite some changes in the articles that were approved in the national referendum. El-Erian also said that the only way is to have an agreement among the various political forces and parties to avoid any differences, adding that the ''features of the final status of the document that would be governing the actions of those forces in the next elections should be defined'', together with discussing all proposals and security concerns as well as economic development matters.

Regarding proposals to have some constitutional articles, and the debate on the civil state and state identity, Dr. Essam El-Erian said that the people should be the authors of the Constitution, calling for everyone to sit at one table to say what they want. He said that the Muslim Brotherhood says that all parties and factions should sit at one table and reach a consensus, then throw that to the people and see how the people will decide about these proposals.  

El-Erian said he believes that there is no dispute that the State should be for all Egyptians, with a democratic political system and the Islamic Sharia as the reference.

He said: "Those who opposed Islamic law before the referendum have now returned and agreed to the principles of Islamic law - and these principles are to ensure and guarantee the rights of all Egyptians.

This very same idea has been expressed by Pope Shenouda himself, as he said that Islamic Sharia gives him what he wants regarding the personal status (i.e. marital) law." 

Regarding adding a paragraph to the second article of the Constitution that allows for non-Muslims to resort to their own rituals and laws in family matters, Dr. Essam El-Erian said: 

"The party that is allowed to add new clauses, phrases or paragraphs to the constitution is the people, and thus, the Constituent Assembly is the entity that would decide on all such issues." He also pointed out his opinion that there is no harm in adding such phrase or statement in the event of it being approved."

In response to the inquiry about the position of the Muslim Brotherhood regarding having a woman or a Copt assuming the post of the presidency of the republic, El-Erian said that "no one has the right to withdraw the right of any Egyptian citizen – man or woman – from exercising his/her rights, even if this was not stated in the Constitution".

El-Erian also said that the FJP sees that there are two ways to handle the issue of exporting Egyptian gas to Israel, which he described as a crime committed by the former regime against all Egyptians.  

The first way out is "procedural"; i.e. re-consideration and revision of these agreements and the global gas prices and comparing this with the present deal made with Israel, and thus, we should study the consequences of stopping exporting gas in case the contract is cancelled. 

The second would be to treat it realistically said El-Erian, which would be stopping exporting the gas through shutting down the pipeline. He said that this solution is easier, and such solutions are employed by states at certain times. He said that this is a kind of interruptive measure that takes the form of a combat maneuver. 

The vice-president of the FJP said that he believes the will of the people should decide on the peace agreement signed with Israel; so if the people decide to reject it, we must respect their will. He said that the Camp David Treaty is between the two parties, and all treaties are subject to review.

El-Erian was challenged with the idea that it is known that the Muslim Brotherhood raised the slogan "Islam Is the Solution" in any electoral process, and still, the FJP did not confirm or categorically deny that it would use the same slogan in the upcoming parliamentary elections. When he was asked about this issue, El-Erian said: "

'Islam Is the Solution' was a slogan used in the era of challenging the former regime and proving the identity of the group.

At the end of his interview with Masrawi, Dr. Essam El-Erian sent a message to Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, and said: "I address a message to Dr. ElBaradei here, telling him that we are waiting for your congratulations to us – which is highly overdue now – for the establishment of the FJP." 

"Islam is the solution".......What was the question again?

Read the full story here.

By the way, just five months back, Barack Obama was telling us the Muslim Brotherhood lacked major support:

Regarding Egypt and President Hosni Mubarak, Mr. Obama said, "The United States and Egypt have been a partner for a long time. [Mubarak's] been a good partner when it comes to the peace with Israel. Counterterrorism effects that he's supported. We have said publicly and privately that trying to suppress your own people is not sustainable. When you resort to suppression and violence, it does not work."

When O'Reilly asked Mr. Obama about the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood and whether the group is a threat, Mr. Obama said, "I think they're one faction in Egypt. They don't have majority support in Egypt. But they're well organized. There are strains of their ideology that are anti-U.S. There's no doubt about it."

Mr. Obama went on to say that there are many secular people in Egypt, along with many educators and a civil society that wants a representative government.

The Brotherhood aims to create an Islamic state in Egypt, but insists that it would not force women to cover up in public in line with Islam's teachings and would not rescind Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel. 

This past week, of course, the Obama Administration officially recognized the Muslim Brotherhood, in order to keep an open line of communication with them as a major player in Egyptian politics:

The U.S. has decided to formally resume contact with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group – which does not recognize Israel – in a move that could further alienate some Jewish voters already skeptical of President Barack Obama, it was reported.

One senior U.S. official said the Brotherhood’s rise in political prominence after the forced departure of former President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year makes the American contact necessary.

“The political landscape in Egypt has changed, and is changing… It is in our interests to engage with all of the parties that are competing for parliament or the presidency,” said the official, who confirmed the news to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Do you think Obama was really that naive about the power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt? 


Quite frankly, I do not. I think he knew the Muslim Brotherhood had enormous political power, but wanted to gradually ease the American people into the acceptance of an Islamist Egypt.


What do you think?