Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood still 'illegal'

An Egyptian leftist lawmaker dropped a bombshell earlier this week in the Islamist-dominated Parliament by filing a request to question the government over the “illegal” status of the Muslim Brotherhood, the nation’s primary civilian political player in post-Hosni Mubarak Egypt.?? Sanaa Al-Said, a legislator representing the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, argued in her interpellation request that the country’s oldest Islamist organisation was operating without legal status. "Why is there a laxity in enforcing the law on the Muslim Brotherhood?" asks Said, referring to the non-governmental organisations law, which requires any group of more than 10 people to obtain a license from the government and have activities and finances regularly monitored.?? “[The Muslim Brotherhood] has to be legalised and subject to scrutiny,” the Assiut-based lawmaker said in a press release. “Nobody should be above the law.” Said finds it “impermissible” for such an influential group whose political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, already holds more than 40 per cent of the parliamentary seats and is expected to have a significant influence on the next cabinet, to remain outside the law. ??