Cairo, December 21: The Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest and most powerful opposition movement in Egypt, on Monday elected a new executive bureau.
The group’s number two Mohammed Habib and reformist Abdel Moneim Abul Futuh were not among the new 16-member executive bureau known as Guidance Bureau, according to results published.
The list is made up of “the leaders of the conservative trend,” Amr Shoubaky, an analyst with the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies said.
Habib told the independent daily Al-Shorouk on Sunday that the group was split between those who wanted the Brotherhood to become more active in the country’s political life, and those who wanted to maintain the status quo.
The wing now dominating the movement is expected to be more focused on the religious aspects.
Sidelining Habib and Abul Futuh “is a serious coup for the reformist group within the movement which seeks more openess and participation with other opposition groups,” Diaa Rashwan, a political analyst said.
Muslim Brotherhood members are expected to elect within days a Supreme Guide to replace Mohammed Mahdi Akef who will step down when his term ends in January.
The group is officially banned but is left to operate relatively openly though its members are subject to periodic crackdowns.
In 2005, the Muslim Brotherhood gained a surprising 20 percent of the seats in parliament by fielding candidates as “independents.”
Since then, a fierce government crackdown has left many prominent members behind bars. The group says the crackdown is aimed at distancing them from political life.
—-Agencies