The Muslim Brotherhood and the liberal Wafd Party have reached a power sharing agreement regarding upcoming elections, a prominent lawyer said Tuesday.
“There is an agreement between the Muslim Brotherhood and Wafd Party stating that the Brotherhood would take over the legislative authority, while Wafd would lead the government,” said Montasser al-Zayyat, who is running for Lawyers Syndicate chief in elections slated for October.
During his interview with the Rotana Masreya satellite TV channel, Zayyat did not provide details but referred to the possibility that the Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party and the Wafd Party would win enough parliamentary seats to form a coalition government.
The Freedom and Justice Party's vice president, Essam al-Erian, denied that any such agreement exists. The party had earlier announced its intention to contest 40 percent of the People’s Assembly seats.
In an interview with the state-run newspaper Al-Akhbar on Tuesday, Erian said, “The alliance didn’t start among Wafd and the Brotherhood only, but after talks among the Brotherhood and 11 other parties reaching to around 38 parties, and is still increasing,” in reference to a coalition of parties that call themselves the Democratic Alliance.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
