The Muslim Brotherhood: new leadership, old politics

Egypt's leading opposition movement has elected a new leader, but Mohammed Badie means more of the same

A Good Comment
By Fawaz Gerges
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 20 January 2010

"There is no better way to take the temperature of Arab politics than to examine the state of the Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful religiously-organised opposition movement in Egypt and the Arab world. With branches in several Arab and Muslim countries, the Brotherhood portrays itself as a more authentic, viable alternative to secular authoritarian rulers and religious extremists of the al-Qaida variety.

The recent election of a new leader, however, has utterly discredited those claims and exposed a serious rift within the 81-year-old Islamic organisation. After weeks of internal turmoil and infighting, the Brotherhood announced that it has chosen Mohammed Badie, an ultra-conservative veterinarian, as its eighth supreme leader since its founding in 1928, along with 16 members of its highest executive policy-setting "guidance bureau".......

Despite its claims to the contrary, the Brotherhood leadership has failed the test of transparency and accountability. Surely, a political movement that is internally closed and authoritarian cannot be trusted to practice democracy, if and when it gains power. One would hope that reformists like Futouh will weather this painful defeat and save the Brotherhood from self-destruction.

A convincing argument can be made that the Brotherhood and the Mubarak regime are two sides of the same coin. The tragedy of Arab politics is that the secular ruling elite and the powerful Islamic opposition are illiberal and undemocratic. There is no viable third force on the Arab horizon that offers a light at the end of the dark tunnel."