Several young members of the Muslim Brotherhood called on the group to hold new elections to the Guidance Bureau and offered a list of candidates.
In their statement entitled, “The Change List,” the youth demanded the reelection of the Bureau’s members through free elections among the members, including females.
The members cited statements from Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef, in which he said the group can hold elections “at any time and in any way, if it wants to” and that there are no obstacles to using the internet and modern tools to facilitate the participation of the largest number of Brotherhood members possible. The young members stressed that the list was not prepared with the goal of supporting certain individuals, but rather was prepared to promote principles. They stressed that the recent row over el-Erian’s promotion has unveiled a number of mistakes and defects within the Guidance Bureau, which are the result of control imposed on the Brotherhood under the guise of obedience. Fear from state security and trust in the leadership have been instilled in the group in order to control their actions.
The statement also said the current form of commissioning members to the Guidance Bureau is done without heeding the will of the members and without any type of democratic representation. They believe that such a practice by the Brotherhood leadership, under the guise of protecting information from state security, does not provide them with the opportunity to assess their performance, acquire information or provide feedback.
The absence of elections in such circumstances is a trick designed to hide the undemocratic behavior by the group, the same group that is supposed to be the finest example of democracy for the nation, said the statement.
The list of names offered by the young members for election includes: Mohamed Ali Beshr, Khayrat el-Shater, Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, Essam el-Erian, Mohamed Habib, Gamal Heshmat, Abdel Rahman el-Bar, Abdel Hai el-Faramawi, Ibrahim el-Zaafarani, Mohamed el-Beltagi, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Mohamed Abdel Ghani, Mustafa el-Naggar, Ibrahim el-Hudeibi (representing the youth) and Amal Khalifa (for women).
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
