Egypt

Muslim Brotherhood leader: Criticism from within is good

There is no proper opposition inside the Muslim Brotherhood, said Haitham Abu Khalil, one of the organization’s leaders. Abu Khalil said the Brotherhood continually tries to marginalize and discredit what opposition does exist on the grounds that criticism should be expressed through the proper channels and not in public.
Abu Khalil, who was giving a press statement yesterday, said the Brotherhood was an association of Muslims, a human rather than a holy organization, and one that routinely makes mistakes. He described the idea that members of the Brotherhood are all of the same mindset as an “insult” to the organization.
Abu Khalil drew a connection between the lack of opposition inside the Brotherhood and the dwindling of its members’ talents, saying that what talent does exist is not properly harnessed and is wasted on unproductive activities–one example being the organization’s continuing dependence on the use of posters and tape cassettes.
Abu Khalil said the Brotherhood needs to train its members to be more critical and to form opposition groups within the organization.
“What would you think if you heard of an organization whose members are no longer accustomed to tolerating opposition inside that organization?  How can it accept the existence of opposition outside the organization but not inside?  Perhaps the matter is one of self-flattery and trying to believe that the Brotherhood is immune to criticism,” said Abu Khalil.
The Brotherhood leader refused to allow what he termed “the scarecrow of security” to justify a lack of transparency and tolerance of responsible criticism inside the organization.
He also demanded that Mohamed Badie, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, intervene to protect any opposition that does exist inside the organization against accusations of treachery and collaboration, saying that Badie should instead legitimize criticism from within which, if expressed publicly, could be a positive form of publicity for the movement.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.

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