Contention erupts as Muslim Brotherhood affiliates are told they will forfeit their candidacies for parliament if they use the group's well-known slogan, Gamal Essam El-Din reports With just one week to go until the Higher Elections Commission (HEC) opens the door to registrations for the upcoming parliamentary elections, the body in charge of supervising the polls decided to impose a strict ban on the Muslim Brotherhood's long-held slogan "Islam is the Solution". A statement issued Monday by HEC Chairman and head of Cairo's Appeals Court El-Sayed Abdel-Aziz Omar noted that, "candidates standing in the upcoming parliamentary elections can not raise the religious slogan of 'Islam is the Solution' and those who violate this order will be removed from the list of candidates." According to Omar, the slogan "Islam is the Solution" is in violation of laws and rules stated by the HEC. On Sunday, an HEC meeting concluded that candidates vying for seats in the next parliament could not use religious slogans or raise funds from foreign sources. "Candidates have the right to promote their platforms and distribute campaign materials as long as they abide by the rules of the 1956 law on the exercise of political rights," said a HEC statement, adding that "the HEC will ask the Supreme Administrative Court to remove from the list of candidates all those found guilty of violating the ban on religious or racial slogans." The HEC statement also underlined that candidates can't interfere in the private affairs of rival candidates or do anything that would threaten "national unity". The HEC's new order came just one day after state-owned newspapers launched a hostile press campaign against the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. The press campaign called upon the HEC to intervene to remove "those who raise the religious slogan of 'Islam is the Solution'" from the list of candidates. The state-owned weekly magazine Al-Musawwar published a document in which Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie allegedly urged supporters of the group to "safeguard voting boxes against rigging practices or die as martyrs". According to the document, Badie also said "the upcoming election should be a Muslim Brotherhood battle against the forces of evil and we should win it." No response has so far been forthcoming from any Brotherhood leader on the document. Joining the fray, some leaders of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) threatened that serious measures will be taken against candidates found guilty of raising religious slogans. NDP Media Secretary Alieddin Hilal told the US-based satellite television channel Al-Hurra that "Egypt knows no group with the name 'Muslim Brotherhood' and that all those who will run in elections as Muslim Brotherhood candidates or raise religious slogans such as 'Islam is the Solution" will face quick and serious action from the HEC." On Monday, NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif praised highly the HEC's new orders, stating that, "the ruling party strongly rejects the attempts of any forces trying to undermine legitimacy and mix religion with politics." Meanwhile, state security forces have stepped up their one-month crackdown campaign against members of the Muslim Brotherhood in several governorates. In Alexandria governorate Tuesday, security forces arrested more than 60 Muslim Brotherhood supporters while they were plastering walls with the group's slogan. A Ministry of Interior official said, "security forces are implementing the HEC's orders not to allow any religious slogans during election campaigns." In the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira Sunday, security forces arrested six Brotherhood members while they were putting up campaign posters emblazoned with the group's slogan. Most Muslim Brotherhood senior officials reacted by insisting that the group's slogan had been approved by the Administrative Court during the Shura Council mid-term elections in 2007. "A case filed by NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif against our slogan during the Shura elections in 2007 was rejected by the [Administrative Court], with the latter stating that the slogan does not violate the constitution," said Saad El-Katatni, spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc. Hamdi Hassan, a Brotherhood MP, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "the HEC's harsh reaction against our slogan came under the orders of the ruling party and its press mouthpieces, and this strips the HEC of the required impartiality and independence." In interview with the daily Al-Shorouk newspaper, Khalil El-Lamie, chairman of the Administrative Court, surprised all by arguing "the slogan 'Islam is the Solution' does not violate the constitution" and that using it is "part of the freedoms enshrined by the constitution." Hassan Nafaa, professor of political science at Cairo University, accused the NDP of leading a retaliatory campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood. "Senior NDP leaders do not want to forget that their party suffered from a very poor performance in 2005 and that the Brotherhood took a lot of seats in this election," argued Nafaa, adding that "all signs show that the NDP has mobilised itself, state-owned media channels, and security authorities against the Brotherhood and at the expense of fair competition." The furore over the "Islam is the Solution" slogan was followed by a salvo of accusations between the Wafd Party and state television authorities. El-Sayed El-Badawi, a business tycoon and chairman of the liberal-oriented Wafd, slammed what he called "the refusal of state-owned television to broadcast Wafd Party media campaigns." "[Ours] is not a television campaign for promoting Al-Wafd candidates but rather for stimulating citizens to actively participate in the next polls and join the Wafd Party," El-Badawi said, threatening that the Wafd would boycott the polls unless quick measures are invoked to ensure integrity and transparency. In response, Minister of Information Anas El-Fiqi stated that, "the HEC's approval is a main guarantee for broadcasting any paid election campaign." El-Fiqi added: "Paid election campaigns for political parties were allowed to be broadcast from the day the presidential decree calling upon citizens to vote in the polls on 28 November was issued." As for individual election campaigns, El-Fiqi indicated that these would be allowed after the final list of candidates is announced by the HEC. Rifaat Abul- Qomsan, deputy minister of interior, indicated that, "Official election campaigns will begin most probably on 15 November, or after the list of candidates is thoroughly revised, and will continue for two weeks." While Muslim Brotherhood and Wafd Party officials are complaining of security and media restrictions, senior officials of the ruling NDP appear confident of securing a landslide victory. In a meeting held by the NDP Tuesday, NDP Secretary- General El-Sherif said: "The NDP is quite capable of strongly competing in the next parliamentary polls and it devised a new platform that caters to the needs of citizens everywhere in Egypt." El-Sherif denied that, "the NDP has struck any closed-door deals with any political forces." Gamal Mubarak, the younger son of President Hosni Mubarak and chairman of the powerful Policies Committee, indicated that the NDP's new platform would be announced during the party's seventh annual conference 9-10 November. "It is a platform that focuses on social justice and aims to raise the standard of living of poor citizens," he said. Ahmed Ezz, steel magnate and NDP secretary for organisational affairs, said: "As many as 3,700 party members registered as possible NDP candidates, out of whom are 1,000 women. The party will select 444 candidates in 222 districts and 64 female candidates in 32 women-only seats, bringing the total to 508 competing for 518 seats in the next parliament."
