After socialist candidate Francois Hollande won the French presidential election earlier this week, Egyptian presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi, a Nasserist, hailed Hollande’s win as a victory for the international left.
That seemed like a natural move, considering the commitment both claim to share to social justice and progressive politics. More surprising, however, is the Muslim Brotherhood’s reading of Hollande’s victory and what it means for Egyptian politics.
Although the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party stands at the opposite end of the political spectrum from Hollande, they also see reason to celebrate: The backup candidate can win.
An article published in the FJP’s official newspaper Tuesday highlights the characteristics Hollande shares with the Islamist party’s own presidential candidate, Mohamed Morsy. The article also suggests parallels between the rise of the French left and the rise of Egypt's Islamists.
After legal concerns surfaced regarding the FJP’s main candidate, Khairat al-Shater, Morsy was fielded as a backup candidate in case of Shater’s elimination. This made him the subject of jokes labeling him “the spare candidate.”
Headlined “Hollande, the backup, president of France,” the article stresses that Hollande was similarly not the first choice of the French Socialist Party and was only fielded after former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was excluded from the race due to sexual assault allegations.
The article highlights that, even though he didn’t have his predecessor’s charisma, Hollande’s platform was stronger than the charisma of his opponent, Nicholas Sarkozy.
Former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, widely considered the most charismatic candidate in the Egyptian presidential race and the front-runner in most polls, is promoting himself as the candidate with the political experience to bring stability to Egypt. The article explains Sarkozy adopted a similar discourse and failed.
“Sarkozy attempted in his debates with Hollande to reassure the French that he is the most qualified, the one that has experience in state management that enables him to be president of France. He also tried to stress that Hollande doesn’t have enough experience to run the country, and that he won’t be able to “protect” the French in a fast-changing and closely knit world. And despite all this, the French chose Hollande and Sarkozy failed to drive them away from him.”
Labeling him “the man of the renaissance,” FJP is hoping that people will similarly disregard Morsy’s personal shortcomings and vote for the party’s promises of development.
The article also draws parallels between the rise of the left in France and its own rise in Egypt, highlighting the socialist domination of the French political scene, almost the same as what the FJP is accused of attempting to accomplish in Egypt.
The article stresses that the Socialist Party now holds power in the presidency, both houses of Parliament, local councils and that it will also control the formation of the government.
“The president is the one that will choose the prime minister. Hollande will probably sack the current prime minister, Francois Fillon, as a remnant of the previously ruling right, and will appoint a new prime minister that can execute his platform so that Parliament and the government are in harmony,” it says.
This comes at a time when negotiations continue between the FJP and the military regarding the party’s demand for the military council to sack the current government led by Mubarak-era Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri and allow it to form a new government.
