Muslim Brotherhood Spokesman: Safeguarding Freedoms a Top Priority

Muslim Brotherhood Spokesman: Safeguarding Freedoms a Top Priority

In an interview with Saudi newspaper “Alyoum”, Dr. Mahmoud Ghozlan, Media Spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), said that the Brotherhood agrees on the importance of expediting the presidential elections with proper constitutional procedures. Concerning the handover of power to the People’s Assembly Speaker, Ghozlan said the Brotherhood did not endorse this call, and that MB members who demanded that were expressing their personal opinions.

 
Concerning allegations of foreign funding, Ghozlan dismissed them as "Fabrications" and "Lies" and that whoever said that should be subject to investigation.
 

With regard to MB’s stance toward presidential elections candidacy, Ghozlan reaffirmed that MB’s final decision is not to field a Presidential candidate, and that MB stands at equal distance from the current candidates.
 

Further, Ghozlan stressed that MB has no objection against bringing forward the presidential elections, saying that "the country now needs to appeal to reason, build the institutions of the state, and take the right path towards the handover of power."

 
On the issue of personal freedoms, Ghozlan reiterated that they are part and parcel of Sharia (Islamic law), citing Imam Hassan al-Banna’s saying: “Government is one of the pillars of Islam; freedom is one of its duties”. So, Ghozlan explained, "freedoms of personal belief, work, movement, association, travel and movement are all part and parcel of Islamic law. Therefore, the public is guaranteed freedoms safeguarded for them by the law itself."
 

Asked about the priorities for the MB at the moment, Ghozlan said: "There is no doubt that our top priorities are freedoms, economy and social justice, then security. Those are the foundations of any society, with which it can rise and develop."