The ‘Istanbul Front’ decides to activate Article 5 of the General Regulation of the Group – Details
The struggle for positions and leadership in the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated as a terrorist organization in a number of countries, can hardly calm or reemerge. The Brotherhood’s Shura Council recently appointed Mahmoud Hussein as acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood; “There are currently no members of the Guidance Office after the arrest of Mahmoud Ezzat other than Mahmoud Hussein,” the Shura Council said in a statement.
The Shura Council, which examined developments in the internal Brotherhood’s accelerated situation, decided to implement Article 5 of the General List of the Brotherhood according to its original text, which is: “In the event of coercive obstacles preventing the Supreme Guide from carrying out his duties, the General Guide shall replace him with the first and oldest deputy, followed by the oldest deputy, then the oldest and the most senior members of the Guidance Office”. Hence, according to a statement issued by the Istanbul Front led by Mahmoud Hussein, and since there are currently no members of the Guidance Office after the arrest of Mahmoud Ezzat other than Mahmoud Hussein, the Council decided that Hussein should assume the duties of acting General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mahmoud Hussein’s inauguration comes after the London Front announced the appointment of Mohieddine Al-Zayt as a temporary successor to Ibrahim Munir, who died at the beginning of this November. The announcement will await the announcement of who will act as acting leader of the Supreme Guide.
Experts in Islamist groups say that Ibrahim Munir appointed a number of names to be his representative in the event of his death. These names were supposed to be presented to the International Shura Council, but that was not until Munir’s death.
After the Egyptian authorities arrested Mahmoud Ezzat, the Brotherhood’s deputy leader and leader, in October 2020, the leadership was transferred to Ibrahim Munir, the Brotherhood’s deputy leader, who is based in London.
The group’s secretary-general, Mahmoud Hussein, rejected Munir’s management style, and the dispute between the two erupted into conflict, turning the group into three fronts.
The group has become three organizations, each with its own councils, offices and media channels, the most powerful of which is the London Front led by Munir, the Istanbul Front led by Hussein which is less numerous, but is coherent and connected to the Egyptian interior, and has the support of Khairat Al-Shater and his men in the group, then the General Office Front or “Kamaliyin”, which are less numerous and less cohesive, but have a sharp discourse that can be marketed among the youth, and is easier to find a sponsor to use them as he wishes.
