Is there a lot of support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt?

[Optiow]

I have been looking at the newsfeeds for Egypt, trying to figure out exactly the role the Muslim Brotherhood is playing in this revolution, but I am confused. I don't believe the conservatives that Egyptians are calling for Sharia Law and not democracy, but at the same time I get the feeling the left (certainly what I have read) is sidestepping the issue.

What exactly is the role of the Muslim Brotherhood? How much support do they have, etc?

Thanks guys.

[Tommy4ever]

They are clearly extremely popular, being pretty much universally expected to win the coming elections with ease. They have always had an uneasy relationship with the revolution since way back in January. If you remember they didn't throw their support behind the toppling of Mubarak until very late on (although it made a big difference when they did), whilst many of their supporters have been taking part in the recent renewal of struggle I haven't seen evidence of the MB leadership supporting the action (but I could be wrong there).

[Rocky Rococo]

While the MB are easily the largest political force in Egypt, they're in a new situation suddenly being a legal political entity. While they were an illegal underground organization that imposed a unity on a very diverse body, with a broad multi-class constituency that will soon begin discovering their material contradictions, and different ideological strands ranging from very hardline Islamist extremists to the cultural-political equivalents of European Christian Democrats. In addition to legality allowing these substantive political-ideological conflicts to emerge, the fact that political position, power and offices are now clearly theirs for the taking, personal political ambitions are also serving as a centrifugal force in the MB. Thus while the national committee of the MB has gone on record opposing the current street action, certain ideological strands and personalized factions of the party are among the leading elements in the renewed uprising.

[khad]

It's the homeland of Said Qutb. Nuff said. Egypt is a country that provides some of the most reactionary social bases for religious conservatism in the region.

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[(A)(_|]

While the MB are easily the largest political force in Egypt, they're in a new situation suddenly being a legal political entity. While they were an illegal underground organization that imposed a unity on a very diverse body, with a broad multi-class constituency that will soon begin discovering their material contradictions, and different ideological strands ranging from very hardline Islamist extremists to the cultural-political equivalents of European Christian Democrats. In addition to legality allowing these substantive political-ideological conflicts to emerge, the fact that political position, power and offices are now clearly theirs for the taking, personal political ambitions are also serving as a centrifugal force in the MB. Thus while the national committee of the MB has gone on record opposing the current street action, certain ideological strands and personalized factions of the party are among the leading elements in the renewed uprising.

While some of their youth are participating in the second wave of the revolution, the MB leadership definitively refuses any participation in the renewed protests, and are obviously taking a pro SCAF stance. As for the primary question, I would say that out of those politicized, Islamists make up the majority and have a large support base. However, the majority of Egyptians don't necessarily know who to vote for since political discourse has been primarily shallow, and many of the important economic or social concerns have yet to be addressed or argued among parties exhaustively. Many people who were going to vote for them because they view them as the only organized and professional political sect on the ground are actually withdrawing their support because of their stance concerning the renewed protests. Many of my friends who were going to vote MB have said that they will most likely boycott or vote for another party. As for the religiosity of the Egyptians, I would say that the majority would be considered religiously moderate, albeit, it wouldn't be difficult to win them over using religious discourse; hence why many people fear a parliament dominated by Islamists.