Chaotic Start to Egypt’s First Democratically Elected Parliament

Chaotic Start to Egypt’s First Democratically Elected Parliament
CAIRO — As Egypt’s first freely elected Parliament in six decades held its opening session on Monday, the Muslim Brotherhood received a lesson in the unwieldiness of democracy when a dispute over choosing a speaker degenerated into a shouting match that overshadowed the day.


It took until nightfall for the Muslim Brotherhood to decisively beat back the challenge to its choice of Saad el-Katatni, a Brotherhood stalwart, by a vote of nearly 400 to fewer than 100.

Its victory was another marker in the group’s transformation from outlawed opposition to political establishment. The Brotherhood won nearly half the legislative seats during the first free elections since last year’s ouster of Hosni Mubarak. After struggling for 84 years in the shadows of monarchy and dictatorship, the Brotherhood — the secretive, hierarchical once-militant group that became the fountainhead of Islamist ideologies — gained political power and the hope of democratic legitimacy as a result of Monday’s vote.

Its triumph, in the heart of the Arab world and the center of last year’s regional uprising, was arguably the closest that Islamists have ever come to governing an Arab country since their movement was born here 80 years ago. Although a party with Islamist roots dominated Tunisia’s elections last fall, it has sought to jettison the label in order to emphasize its commitment to democracy and pluralism, while the Brotherhood still considers itself the movement’s flagship.

In a weary speech after his election late Monday night, Mr. Katatni said the differences of opinion expressed over his selection were democracy in action. “This is democracy that had left this hall for years, and now the people have grasped it,” he said. “We want Egypt and the whole world to know that our revolution will continue and we will not rest and our eyes won’t sleep until the revolution fulfills all its demands.”

But the acrimony of the challenge to Mr. Katatni from a former Brotherhood leader was also a reminder of the difficulties facing the group as it tries to unite the country, the Parliament and even its fellow Islamists, especially at a time when Egypt remains under the rule of the generals who seized power from Mr. Mubarak.

The bedlam in the chamber tempered a day that had begun as a joyous occasion for some Brotherhood members. Hundreds of them arrived outside the Parliament in the early morning, directed by their leaders both to cheer for the new lawmakers and to ensure against any outbreak of violence. “Everyone has his role to play,” said Mohsen Eid, 44, an aviation engineer and Brotherhood member.

For many, it was the first opportunity to recognize an achievement three generations in the making. “This is the most important day in our lives, after the day Mubarak left,” said Abdul Moneim el-Tantawy, 67, a mechanical engineer. “This is our celebration,” he said, looking up at the Parliament building. “Before, if we stood here, we would be taken directly to jail.”

Men held hands and danced in the street, singing religious and patriotic songs. They carried paunchy middle-aged men in suits and ties on their shoulders to lead them in chants like a high school sports team that won a big game. Some handed the lawmakers flowers as they approached the door, and a few men and women cried tears of joy.

Some members of Parliament tried to approach by car but the crowds were so thick they had to get out and walk. “At this time there is no one who can overcome the people,” said Ahmed Hassanin, 41, a neurologist who turned up before 8 a.m. to watch the lawmakers arrive for the historic session. “It was beautiful.”

The streets around the Parliament had been repainted, to hide the evidence of the deadly clashes between security forces and protesters challenging military rule that took place there just a month before. But by midafternoon a few thousand other demonstrators had arrived, many repeating the demand for the military rulers to step down immediately — a call the Muslim Brotherhood has not endorsed. It has accepted the military’s plan to hand over power to a newly elected president by the end of June.