Rifts appearing within Brotherhood's party in Libya
Sharp divisions are appearing within the ranks of the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya.
This comes after a
number of leaders of the Construction and Justice Party, the political arm of
the group, submitted their resignations, weeks after the election of a new
leadership.
These resignations
reinforce tensions within the party, ahead of the general elections which are expected
to be held at the end of this year.
The Brotherhood hopes
it can use the elections in maintaining its presence on the Libyan political stage.
Samira al-Azaby, the
party's deputy president for women and youth affairs, submitted her resignation
after she quarreled with some of the party's leaders.
Other Brotherhood
leaders submitted their resignations, including the head of the party's
Politburo, the head of the Media Section, the head of the Youth Office, and the
head of the Administrative and Financial Affairs Department.
These resignations were
made against the background of disagreements in visions with the current leadership
of the party.
A number of those who
submitted their resignations attributed their decisions to quit the party to
the emergence of an extremist current within the party.
The party, they said,
used to follow a flexible policy in the past.
The Justice and
Construction Party held its internal elections a few weeks ago. Imad al-Banani
became the new party head, succeeding Muhammad Sawan, who led the party for the
past nine years.
Brotherhood
breakup
The resignation of a
number of executive leaders in the party exposed the enormity of differences
and splits within it.
This runs counter to
claims that the Muslim Brotherhood's party is the most coherent, united and
organized of all political parties on the Libyan political scene.
