The Executive Office of the Muslim Brotherhood movement does not influence the policy pursued by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Helmy Elgazzar, Deputy Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

       “The Executive Office of the movement (the Muslim Brotherhood) and its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, have no control over the President of Egypt. He considers their proposals as well as those of other political forces. Whether he accepts them or not is entirely up to him,” Elgazzar said at the Middle East Dialogue session of the Valdai International Discussion Club held in Morocco.

       Many oppositional politicians in Egypt describe the current president, Mohamed Morsi, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, as being influenced or led by orders from the Executive Office of the movement and its Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie.

       Helmy Elgazzar says the criticism from the liberal opposition is not justified. Hesham Qandil’s cabinet, he says, was able to resolve the critical shortage of household gas and the “bread issue”.

       Elgazzar believes the oppositional National Salvation Front will not boycott the upcoming parliamentary election, because otherwise it would drop out of politics for the next five years. At the same time, Elgazzar, who is also a member of the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament, noted that in the five to six months remaining before the election, the Freedom and Justice Party will increase its efforts and will work directly with the voters to match the results of the previous parliamentary election.

       About a hundred political and public figures, Middle East experts from Russia, the Middle East and the West are discussing the future of political Islam in the Arab world at the Middle East Dialogue of the Valdai International Discussion Club. The conference was held in Marrakesh, Morocco, on May 14 and15. The Valdai International Discussion Club was established by RIA Novosti and the Council for Foreign and Defense Politics in 2004. It has become a unique platform for interaction between Russian and foreign experts in politics and international relations.

       RIA Novosti

       Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.