During the entire Egyptian uprising, I have predicted that a post-Mubarak government will include the Muslim Brotherhood in a new governing coalition, and that the Brotherhood will work gradually to assert elements of Sharia and muscle out the other members of the coalition. Here is the first step. We’ll see if the rest plays out the way I predicted as well. “Islamist moves from jail to power, and a chance to ban kissing,” by David Kirkpatrick and Kareem Fahim for the Sydney Morning Herald, February 17 (thanks to Twostellas):
CAIRO: The military officers governing Egypt have convened a panel of jurists, including an outspoken Muslim Brotherhood politician, to revise the constitution in the first tangible evidence of a commitment to move the country towards democracy after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak….
The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Sobhi Saleh, an Alexandria lawyer and former MP who is a prominent figure in the Muslim Brotherhood. The Mubarak government repeatedly portrayed Mr Saleh as an extremist. He has espoused views such as advocating a ban on public kissing, and was recently released from an intelligence prison.
”I am very happy because Tantawi told us to try to finish as soon as we can,” Mr Saleh said. ”He said, ‘We want to hand over the power because we are military people and we have no political aspirations.”’
His colleagues on the panel called Mr Saleh an impartial jurist. ”Sobhi Saleh is a real legal expert,” said Hassan el-Badrawi, a judge on the panel. ”This is proof we are not excluding anybody.”…