Egypt’s Presidential List Finalized
Egypt’s Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) announced on Thursday its final list of candidates whom are eligible to run in the presidential elections. Thirteen candidates were accepted, including Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi, former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, former Arab League head Amr Moussa, and moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh. Ahmed Shafiq had initially been disqualified after the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) ratified a law that ...
April 27, 2012
Category: Egypt, Elections, Government, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Political Parties, Political transition
New POMED Policy Brief: The Rise of Islamist Actors: Formulating a Strategy for Sustained Engagement
In POMED’s latest policy brief, Quinn Mecham, Assistant Professor at Middlebury College, details the success of Islamist groups in the Middle East over the last year and how the U.S. should engage with these groups. In the past six months, Islamist parties or blocs have won elections in multiple countries in the Arab world and may also yet emerge as dominant political actors in other countries affected by popular uprisings. While ...
April 27, 2012
Category: Elections, Hezbollah, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Policy Briefs, Political Islam, Political transition, US foreign policy, US politics
Tunisia’s Blooming Political Scene Receives Billions in Aid Assistance
Wafa Ben Hassine reports in Jadaliyya today about the blossoming political scene in Tunisia. It notes how partisan activities have prospered in post-revolution Tunisia, noting that what was more-or-less a one party system now has officially 118 parties. Issues such as the role of religion, freedom of expression, and civil liberties have been hotly debated. With such a plethora of political actors, Jadaliyya notes that its sometimes hard to keep ...
April 26, 2012
Category: Elections, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Political Islam, Political Parties, Political transition, Qatar, Tunisia, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: Tunisia’s Islamists Struggle to Rule
On Wednesday, the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a discussion entitled “Tunisia's Islamists Struggle to Rule.” The panelists discussed the political situation in Tunisia. Tunisia’s Islamic Ennahda Party, winner of the first elections since the popular uprising that overthrew President Ben Ali in early 2011, dominates the Constituent Assembly and ruling coalition government. However, Ennahda is grappling to balance the intense struggle between ...
April 26, 2012
Category: Elections, Event Notes, Government, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Secularism, Tunisia
International Crisis Group: Lost in Transition: The World According to Egypt’s SCAF
Yesterday, the International Crisis Group (ICG) published a report in attempt to explain the often misconceived views of the Egyptian Revolution’s once supposed caretakers: the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). The report gives a thorough timeline of the fickle transition from the onset of the revolution until today. The report goes into detail about how the SCAF views itself, how it views the current political actors, as well as ...
April 25, 2012
Category: Elections, Featured, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Libya, Political Islam, Political Parties, Political transition, US foreign policy
Disqualifications Upend Egyptian presidential race
On Wednesday, the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) announced that it will uphold a ban on ten presidential candidates. The ban is expected to have a major effect on the race, as three of the front-runners have been disqualified. The three are Salafi Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat al-Shater, and former intelligence chief and Vice-President Omar Suleiman. The commission had originally ruled to ban the candidates last Saturday, ...
Analysis: Jordan’s Newly-Proposed Electoral Law
Last week, the Jordanian government presented a proposal to amend current electoral laws to parliament. Reportedly, this is one of the few times that an election law is to be debated in parliament instead of being issued ...
April 16, 2012
Category: Elections, Jordan, Political Parties, Political transition, Reform, Rule of Law
Egyptian Villages and Parliamentary Elections
Yasmine Moataz Ahmed wrote in Egypt Independent on Tuesday about Egypt’s villagers, who they voted for, and why. Ahmed goes on to explain why villagers, who are a large part of the Egyptian electorate, voted largely for Islamist ...
April 13, 2012
Category: Egypt, Elections, Featured, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam
Egypt’s Presidential Candidates Face Possible Disqualification
On Thursday, Egypt’s Administrative Court found that conservative Salafi presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail was eligible to run for president and that the Interior Ministry must “hand over a certificate to Hazem Salah Abu Ismail to prove ...
April 12, 2012
Category: Egypt, Elections, Featured, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Political transition
Approaching Algerian Elections Raises Questions about Islamists
While Algeria’s Islamist have been emboldened by victories of their Islamist counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia, the expected outcome of the May 10 Elections in Algeria will most likely be more similar to Morocco, where Islamists control parliament with no real change in the status quo, writes Robert Parks in Jadaliyya. Noting that Islamists in Algeria have been gradually included into the political scene since 1995, Parks opines that the Algerian ...
April 11, 2012
Category: Algeria, Elections, Political Islam, Political Parties, Political transition
April 9, 2012
Category: Egypt, Elections, Featured, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Political transition, US foreign policy
Delegation from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Visits Washington
A delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) arrived in Washington, D.C. this week in an attempt to diffuse growing concern about the group's dominance of Egyptian politics. A panel of FJP members, including Sondos ...
April 5, 2012
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Category: Egypt, Elections, Featured, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Political transition
POMED Notes: “Delegation of Egypt’s Freedom & Justice Party”
On Wednesday, the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University hosted a panel of members of the political arm of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). The panelists included Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, a Freedom and Justice member of parliament from Luxor and a member on parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee; Hussein El-Kazzaz, an economic advisor for the Muslim Brotherhood and Freedom and Justice Party; Sondos ...
April 4, 2012
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Category: Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Egypt, Elections, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam
Nathan Brown: “Egypt’s Muddy Waters”
“The decision of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood to nominate Khairat al-Shater to the presidency plunges Egypt’s transition—always a seemingly unsteady affair---into complete uncertainty,” says Nathan Brown. Although some consistent trends have been made apparent in Egypt’s transition, Brown writes that ...
“The Decline of Political Islam in the Arab World”
In Time Magazine, Tony Karon writes that the U.S. may be happy with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) nominating Khairet al Shater for the presidency, and desire a MB dominated Egypt. Liberals, seculars, and even members of the Brotherhood ...
April 4, 2012
Category: Egypt, Elections, Featured, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Libya, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Tunisia, US foreign policy
Algeria’s Economic Woes in Run Up To Elections
As election monitors arrive in Algeria in the run up to elections, 22,000 security officers in Algeria have made the decision to stage a protest at the conditions of their employment. The protest will take place in front ...
NTC Unable to Broker Ceasefire between Rival Militias
Clashes between rival militias continued for the third day after the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) failed to broker a ceasefire between the two factions. Clashes occurred as heavy fire was exchanged between the town of Zuwara and ...
April 3, 2012
Category: Countries, Elections, Lebanon, Libya, Political Parties, Political transition, Rule of Law, Security Sector
Muslim Brotherhood’s Political Gamble
Marc Lynch writes in Foreign Policy today that the Muslim Brotherhood’s nomination of Deputy Supreme Guide Khairet al-Shater “sent an earthquake through Cairo’s already wildly careening political seen.” He believes that the nomination is not part of a ...
April 2, 2012
Category: Egypt, Elections, Featured, Islam and Democracy, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Political Parties, Political transition
April 1, 2012
Category: Egypt, Elections, Featured, Government, Muslim Brotherhood, Political transition