Next month Egypt is to hold its parliamentary elections. In preparation the ruling party has taken to arresting opposition members.
The Muslim Brotherhood members were jailed for hanging election posters. Government officials stated that the Brotherhood violated an election law that prescribed religious slogans on posters. As per numerous reports, the ruling party’s posters were not taken down nor were any people arrested. The ruling party’s posters contained slogans from the Quran, surely considered religious.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been outlawed since 1954.
In addition to selectively enforcing the election law, Egypt is a known discriminator against minority religion. Egypt has long discriminated against Christians, both in its enactment of certain laws and their enforcement. The U.S. is considering sanctioning Egypt for this behavior.
This sort of bullying behavior by the government likely contributes to unrest and illwill in the country. Instead of aleviating some of the root causes of the existence of the Muslim Brotherhood, minimizing its impact and truly marginalizing it, the government engages in blatant unfairness, that likely fuels its popularity.
