CAIRO/BEIRUT: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has joined forces with 17 other parties, including liberals and leftists, to form a common platform for parliamentary elections, as it seeks to allay fears among secular groups and the country’s Christian minority.

In a meeting Tuesday, the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, the liberal Wafd party, the left-leaning Tagammu and the Noor party, newly formed by Salafist Muslim hard-liners, said they would “channel their efforts … into building a state of law based on citizenship, equality and sovereignty of the people.”
Tuesday’s meeting also discussed the idea of a unified elections list.
The parties outlined their common principles including “freedom of belief and worship,” freedom of expression and a free media, the independence of the judiciary and “an economic system based on social justice.”
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took over when mass protests forced Mubarak from power in February, has scheduled parliamentary elections for September.

But an autumn election is expected to play into the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, prompting calls from secular politicians for a delay to allow new parties to organize themselves.
Some have also called for a new constitution to be drawn up before the election, for fear that the Islamist group will otherwise have too much influence over the drafting of the charter.

Its alliance with secular parties will help the Brotherhood to put across a softer image, analysts said.
“The Brotherhood strategy is to present itself as a moderate party, not a dominant one,” said Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, professor of political science at Cairo University.
Sayyed said the group’s goal was to “reassure those hostile to them, and the Christians.”

As it reaches out, the group has also faced challenges, including from within its own ranks.
Senior Brotherhood leader Abdelmoneim Abul Futuh was expelled after he decided to stand in the presidential election, defying the group’s policy not to field a candidate, and a few younger members have broken off to form their own political party.

But analysts say such challenges are unlikely to faze Egypt’s veteran opposition movement.
Al-Azhar – Sunni Islam’s leading center of religious learning – called Monday for a “modern, democratic” and non-religious state.

Elsewhere, supporters of ousted President Hosni Mubarak are calling for a June 24 demonstration demanding that his trial be canceled and his legacy honored, Egypt’s Daily News reported. A Facebook page called “Egypt’s Third Revolution: Mubarak’s Children are Coming” has attracted over 8,000 users so far, it said.
It said the group’s founders call for releasing Mubarak – held in a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh – and canceling his trial, which is set to start Aug. 3.

They also call for reinstalling his name on landmarks such as metro stations where his name was scratched off and replaced with “The Martyrs,” it said. They also want him to be honored by the armed forces, it added.
The group seems to be affiliated with other online groups, most notably one with over 90,000 members called “I’m Sorry, President.”