In the parliamentary elections that took place at this time one year ago, the Muslim Brotherhood was referred to as “the prohibited group” in some papers. In those elections, the then-ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) allowed the Brotherhood’s independent candidates to win some seats to create the illusion of democracy.
Now, the Democratic Alliance, headed by the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Brotherhood’s political arm, has won 43 percent of the votes in the first of three electoral stages according to initial results, marking the group’s long-awaited transformation from outcast to important political power.
Expected to have a plurality in parliament when the final results are tallied, the Brotherhood is proceeding with confidence and trying to ease concerns about its potential dominance of the political scene.
The Muslim Brotherhood issued a victorious statement on Wednesday, directed “to the great Egyptian people,” thanking all who contributed to the success of the elections and congratulating Egyptians for their positive attitudes.
“The real winner in these elections is the Egyptian people and the losers are Mubarak and his regime and those that try to frighten the people,” Essam al-Erian, vice president of the FJP, told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday.
As soon as the elections’ preliminary results began to emerge, the liberal camp went into a panicked tantrum. Liberals fear that the Brotherhood will dominate the new parliament and use it to restrict freedoms, especially by playing a large role in choosing the constituent assembly that will draft the country’s new constitution.
“The parliament looks like it will be balanced; the Egyptian Bloc has a big presence. Some people are creating unnecessary fear,” says Erian, referring to the FJP’s main competitors.
Hassan Abu Taleb, an expert at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, sees the Brotherhood’s modesty regarding their win as a political strategy.
“They are trying to ease the shock on others so as not to allow campaigns to attack them from the start. They know how to play politics,” says Abu Taleb.
With the authority of a winner, FJP President Mohamed Morsy felt the need to reassure Egyptians on Wednesday that his party would form a coalition government.
But talk of forming a government is giving experts reason to believe that the Brotherhood may soon clash with the still-ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
The ruling military council announced last week that it will form a new cabinet to serve alongside the elected parliament, and asserted that the new parliament will have no authority to remove the SCAF with a no-confidence vote.
Some expect that this potential conflict would put an end to the strong relationship between the Brotherhood and the SCAF that has existed during the transitional period.
“I am expecting either a struggle or an understanding between the forces of the parliament and the ruling military council regarding the formation of the government,” says Kamal al-Helbawy, a former Brotherhood spokesperson. “The Muslim Brotherhood will not give up easily now that they’ve succeeded and come in first.”
But the FJP has backed down from its earlier request to form a new government, and chosen to postpone the fight to focus instead on the remaining stages of the elections. In a statement on Thursday, the FJP said that it was too early to talk about a new government.
Despite its sweeping victory, Abu Taleb dismisses the concerns of many that the Brotherhood will now be able to single-handedly dominate Egyptian politics. Just like everyone else, he says, they will have to coordinate with other voices in the new parliament.
“No one will have a two-thirds majority, which would allow them to make unilateral decisions, not even the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis combined,” says Abu Taleb.
