Egyptian parliamentary elections and the Muslim Brothers group

The officially banned Muslim Brothers groups in Egypt nominated 150 members for the next parliamentary elections in the country, doubling thereby number of its candidates in which it took part in the elections of year 2000, in what it considered as an increase in freedom and political awareness.

Among the groups's 150 candidates is only one woman taking part in the elections. She is a professor at the literary criticism at al-Azhar university Makarem al-Deiri. Al-Deiri, 55 year old) and a mother of six, would be the first parliamentarian in the Egyptian people's assembly to fight discrimination against veiled women in the work place, and would defend the rights of the oppressed women and would work to correct misconceptions such as that Islam repress the woman.

For its part, the national council for human rights in Egypt, financed by the government, called for a constitutional amendment permiting the expansion of competition for the post of the president of the country, noting that real competition was absent from the recent presidential elections in Egypt.