Poll expert reveals reasons behind decline in Brotherhood’s popularity
Says University of Michigan political science professor and pollster expert Mark Tesler: “The popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood has declined as a result of the exposure of its true goals, which are far removed from the national interest of the state”.
In a lecture organized by the Trend Research and Consulting Center in Abu Dhabi, he said: polls in some Arab countries showed that the Muslim Brotherhood’s popularity has declined. The Muslim Brotherhood’s popularity has declined, Al-Ittihad reported.
Tesler presented the results of opinion polls conducted in Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria after the so-called Arab Spring, clarifying that Islamist movements had the opportunity to rule in some Arab countries, but they failed miserably. He pointed out that after the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi in Egypt in 2013, there was a major decline in Egyptians’ confidence in Islamist movements in general, as was the situation in Tunisia, with few differences between the two models. Their popularity has also declined in Algeria and in North African countries generally, as people have become certain that these movements are unable to govern.
Tesler noted that the experience of political Islamist movements in governance led the majority of people in the Arab region to believe that democracy promotes chaos, fosters social division, and does not help development. He noted that the terrorist organization ISIS sought to attract young people with low levels of education, but opinion polls indicated that there was a rejection by this group to join the organization, stressing that educating members of society about the goals of ISIS and other extremist and terrorist organizations helps them refuse to join such organizations.
He clarified the importance of discussion, dialog and exchange of views among Arab political elites as a political platform to determine the type of political system that can be agreed upon, noting that the opinion polls that were conducted focused on the political and strategic aspects of governance and the quality of democracy that societies desire.
