Reform Requires Joint National Efforts, Says Abdul Monem Abul Fotouh

Muslim Brotherhood Executive Bureau member and Secretary General of Arab Doctors Union Dr. Abdul- Monem Abul Fotouh said reform and change require both a popular will and the coalition of the entire national and political forces.

During his speech at the Muslim Brotherhood Iftar ceremony in the Nile Delta Al Qalyoubeyya governorate in the Lawyers Club Abul Fotouh said that national forces in Egypt are advocating the same causes, including freedom, democracy, and judicial independence.

Abul Fotouh said that the reason for crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood is that they renounced passive speeches and resorted to active work, urging everyone to start working positively for the sake of Egypt regardless of the regime’s suppression.  

He added that MB is an Egyptian grassroots pro-reform organization that all Egyptians should be proud of, including the regime itself.

The Muslim Brotherhood does not discriminate between citizens, whether Muslims or Christians, male or female,” Abul Fotouh said expressing his extreme frustration at Egypt’s deteriorating status quo.

“Egypt hast lost its regional and international roles as a result of the deviations of our corrupt regime.”

MB Parliamentary Bloc representative of the governorate Mohsen Radi presented a quick assessment of MB MPs’ role through the last parliamentary session.  He referred to the MB’s vision for reform and that it was based on the painful reality in which the Egyptian citizen lives because of the failed policies of the ruling regime, which appeared less cohesive. He added that it is common now to find strikes but the broader agenda of reform is still not found.

“Since the people rejoiced about the relatively successful democratic experience of 2005 parliamentary elections and the victory of some 100 opposition candidates, the regime started to put obstacles in the way of further opposition victories and prevent any cooperation among various institutions,” Radi said, adding that the regime has most strangely banned the live broadcasting of PA sessions and repealed judicial supervision of elections in a bid to severe all possible ties between the MB and the people. Nevertheless, these measures have not deterred the MB from advocating their nation’s causes and cooperating with the people.

He added that the MB MPs established several symposia for performance assessment in the last PA round in which many experts participated.

Experts said that the MB MPs were working around the hour, and that they could voice the concerns of people in the parliament.

Radi confirmed that the Muslim Brotherhood has a civilizing and reform project that it seeks to achieve according to constitutional and legal mechanisms and that it will not be deterred despite all the sacrifices.

Representative of Al-Karama would-be party and Kefaya activist Mohamed Bayoumi said that Egypt has been “kidnapped” by NDP Political Committee “in which thieves and delinquents of Egypt are sheltered.” He said he was surprised by how the two respectful liberal parties of AlWafd and Attagamoa denied NDP’s manipulation of elections for them to have seats in the parliament and the local councils.

He also denounced the authorities’ banning of the Muslim Brotherhood annual Iftar ceremony saying it is a sign of the regime’s vulnerability.