Muslim Brotherhood: Analyzing the Group’s Pick for its New Leader

Since the leadership change of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt on January 16, some have speculated as to the impact on the region’s most influential Islamist group. Shadi Hamid writes that group’s decision to elect Mohammed Badie as the new General Guide — the Muslim Brotherhood’s most senior position — has drawn a consensus reaction that a turn toward a more a radical direction can be anticipated. However, Hamid believes these interpretations are misguided, and that the group’s concern for how it is perceived by the rest of the world is too important for it to abandon what has been its “increasingly moderate force.” Accordingly, “for a group very much affected by how others perceive it, organizational commitments trump the beliefs of individual leaders.”

The Guardian‘s Fawaz Gerges writes that the election of Badie has actually been a blow for those in the group who have been advocating for “reformist tendencies.” Unlike Hamid, Gerges believes “the reformist wing, which calls for transparency and joining ranks with the small, but active secular opposition, has therefore suffered a major setback.”

Al Masry Al Youm is reporting that the head of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, called Badie in order to wish him “all the best” and pledge Hamas’ support for the Brotherhood’s new leader.

UPDATE: An English translation of Badie’s acceptance speech has been released. Hamid has also just published portions of an interview Badie gave with Al Jazeera last week.