CAIRO,
August 21, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Egypt's Muslim
Brotherhood said Sunday, August 21, it will not back incumbent Hosni
Mubarak in the country’s first contested presidential election, but
urged Egyptians not to show apathy and cast their votes in the
September 7 polls.
"We
are for participation and we appeal to the people ... to approach the
ballot boxes so as not to give an opportunity to the authorities to
forge their wishes," Brotherhood's deputy leader Mohamed Habib
told Reuters.
The
largest opposition group earlier issued a statement stressing that
"our participation in these elections is a responsibility and
trust before God."
"All
Brothers should know that we cannot support an oppressor or cooperate
with a corrupt person or tyrant," it said.
The
statement repeated a call by the Brotherhood for judicial independence
and complete judicial oversight of the elections.
Human
rights watchdogs said previous ballots, such as the 2000 parliamentary
elections, have been marred by violence and harassment of voters
trying to vote for opposition groups.
The
Brotherhood is officially banned in Egypt but, between periodic
crackdowns, is often tolerated and has 16 deputies in Egypt’s
454-member parliament.
Hundreds
of its members have been detained during anti-government protests
since May, but most have been released.
No
to Mubarak
Sunday’s
statement did not mention Mubarak or his nine rivals when it outlined
the group's position in the vote.
But
its chief said in comments printed on Saturday, August 20, it would
not back incumbent Mubarak, who is largely expected to win a fifth
six-year term.
"It
is enough that he stayed in power 24 years and did not achieve
political reform," Mahdi Akef told the London-based Al-Hayat
Arabic daily.
When
contacted by Reuters, Akef confirmed his comments to the
mass-circulation paper but would not elaborate.
Mubarak,
77, and other nine candidates are vying in the presidential race.
No
independent candidates are running because none secured the backing of
250 members of elected bodies, such as parliament, which is dominated
by Mubarak's National Democratic Party.
Critics
say the government set such tough requirements for independents partly
to block a Brotherhood challenger.
Ayman
Nour of Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, one of the most prominent opposition
candidates in the race, met Akef earlier this month in what a Ghad
party official said was an attempt to win the Brotherhood's backing
for his candidacy.
