Amani Maged interviews Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood
candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections and assesses his
chances of succes.
Al-Ahram Weekly
10 - 16 May 2012
Mohamed Mursi is the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party
(FJP) candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. Born in 1951 in
the Sharqiya governorate, Mursi graduated with honours from the Faculty
of Engineering at Cairo University and then went to the US for graduate
studies, obtaining a doctorate in engineering from the University of
Southern California in 1982.
From there, he worked as an assistant professor at California State
University in North Ridge. In 1985, he returned to Egypt, where he
became professor and head of the materials engineering department at the
Faculty of Engineering at Zagazig University. He continued in this post
until 2010, during which time he also worked for a period at the
Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University.
Mursi's relationship with the political bureau of the Muslim
Brotherhood began when it was founded in 1992. He ran for parliament in
1995 and 2000, being elected an MP in the latter elections and becoming
spokesman for the Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc. On 30 April 2011, he
was elected chair of the Brotherhood's recently founded political wing,
the Freedom and Justice Party.
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Mursi explained his political ideas and programme.
Weekly: In your view, what is the nature of the current crisis between the parliament and the government?
Mursi: The government has failed miserably in its task of running the
country. Its management has only wrought further attrition. We have
therefore called for it to be dissolved and for someone else to be
charged with forming a new government. If this is impossible, the
present government should only continue for a two-month period in a caretaking capacity. Anything else would not be acceptable.
Weekly: Would you consider working
together with Islamist presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh
in a future administration?
Mursi:It is premature to speak about forming a presidential team. We all
have to defer to the will of the Egyptian people. If I become the next
president, I will take a good look around me and choose the most
suitable people to work with me. This is not just about winning votes.
Weekly: Would you consider stepping aside to help Abul-Fotouh's candidacy?
Mursi: The Muslim Brotherhood and the
FJP looked at the candidates in the field and tried to promote others
who had not yet stepped forward.
The latter people declined for reasons of their own, and as a result we
decided to field a candidate for the presidency. Now that this decision
has been put into effect, it is up to the people to choose the best man
for the job.
Weekly: The Salafist Nour Party has come out in favour of another candidate,
while the Islamic Law Organisation has declared its support for you.
What is your reaction to these developments?
Mursi: Every group has the right to choose in the light of what it deems to
be in its best interest. But ultimately this is about the people's
choice. The people are not divided on the basis of Islamist and
non-Islamist, and the domination or monopoly of a single political force is not an option in the future.
Weekly: Before the January Revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood's campaign
slogan was "Islam is the solution". Yet, when you repeated this slogan
following your nomination, you stirred outrage?
Mursi: In the pre-revolutionary period, there was corruption, dictatorship
and faked elections. At that time, "Islam is the solution" was merely a
slogan, because there were no mechanisms to deliver on it. When I
repeated it [following the revolution], my intention was to underscore
the fact that now the slogan could be translated into reality. However,
naturally it is not our campaign slogan.
Weekly: Is the reason you have dropped the slogan the fact that you wanted to
distance yourself from the image of being the Muslim Brotherhood
candidate?
Mursi: I am a son of the Muslim Brotherhood, and my intellectual and moral
composition has been shaped by this group. Part of my creed is that the
welfare of the nation comes above that of any party or group. I am
presenting myself to the public on the basis of my personal qualities,
my Muslim Brotherhood background, the fact that I am the Muslim
Brotherhood/FJP candidate, and the need for us to work together to make
Egypt a modern nation.
I did not drop the slogan to distance myself from the group. To me,
the slogan has substance, and I have not distanced myself from that
substance or that great call. The Brotherhood's Nahda (renaissance)
Project is ready to be implemented, but I intend to keep an equal
distance from all political trends. For the first time, the people
themselves are drawing up a new constitution. What we are seeing now are
the pains that attend a healthy birth. Hopefully, it will bring
stability with it.
Weekly: The "Nahda Project" was
associated with the former Brotherhood candidate Khairat El-Shater. Do
you have a project of your own?
Mursi: The Nahda Project is the Muslim Brotherhood's project. We have been
working on it for many years. It started as a seed we planted in the
1990s, and we have nurtured it through research and academic studies in
the hope of furthering the cause of the nation in all fields.
Weekly: Many people wonder why Mohamed Mursi, with his distinguished career, would accept being a "replacement" candidate?
It was a wise decision to have a back-up candidate, and the Muslim
Brotherhood is a long-established organisation that operates on the
basis of clear and precise institutional thinking. Accordingly, the
Brotherhood and the FJP decided that it was necessary to have one or
more back-up candidates in the event that obstacles emerged to impede
the nomination of Khairat El-Shater.
Comment: Time for you to educate yourselves about the Muslim brotherhood-they transcend Egypt, they are in America and have been for decades. Imagine what their goal might be!
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