Cairo, October 28: “They want exclusive dominance over elections and power forever,” the Brotherhood’s leader, Mohammed Badie, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Security forces have reportedly detained at least 260 campaigners of the opposition group ahead of the November elections.
The arrests were made as campaigners were putting up posters for one of the group’s candidates.
Badie, however, said that his group will make efforts to prevent fraud in the elections.
The government’s move to end supervision of polling stations by judges in 2005 “shows the intention to rig the vote and cover it up,” he said.
“The real difference now is that the Egyptian people reject the theft of their vote,” he said.
“Let’s see whether those ballot thieves will be able to steal any vote when the vote’s owner is on the alert,” said Badie, who himself served 15 years in prison in his 20s.
A total of 508 seats are up for grabs in the November elections.
The Muslim Brotherhood won a fifth of the seats in the last elections in 2005 — despite a police crackdown.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has announced November 28 as the date for the country’s much-anticipated parliamentary elections.
The announcement comes as Cairo continues to maintain pressure to silence critics of the government in the media and elsewhere in the run-up to the vote.
Despite its setback, the Muslim Brotherhood has defended its decision to field candidates.
“We seek participation, not domination,” said Badie.
——–Agencies