The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has issued a statement saying it is optimistic about a second term for U.S. President Obama. According to an Egyptian media report:
CAIRO: Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, has said it is optimistic that a second term for United States President Barack Obama can see an increase in cooperation and fairness with Egypt and the US. The FJP Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Amr Darrag said that he and his party believe that Obama’s second term in office can bring about change in how relations between the two countries are done, ‘because Egypt has become a major player in international politics.’ It comes on the heels of anti-American protests in September in Cairo that threatened the already tenuous relationship since Egypt’s President and member of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Morsi took office last summer. ‘US foreign policy has certain fixed elements that do not change, even as the administration changes,’ Darrag continued in a statement published by the Brotherhood’s official website. ‘But Obama’s triumph reduces the duration US administration requires to reconsider outstanding issues. This gives Arab countries the opportunity to interact directly with the US administration, to try to achieve their strategic interests.’ Morsi and the Brotherhood are attempting to garner support from Washington, especially considering the country’s struggling economy that has seen Cairo request a number of loans in order to avoid pitfalls in payments to workers and government facilities. Egyptians across the board, seem positive on the re-election of Obama, with numerous people telling Bikyamasr.com that they remain positive with Obama in power, despite his failure to change the status quo in the region during his first four years in power. ‘We look forward to a US foreign policy that is both fair and balanced, and an Egyptian-US relationship that is all balanced as well. We hope mutual relations between the two countries would not be forced through an Israeli portal, like the QIZ agreement, under which a certain proportion of Israeli-made components must be in Egyptian products for them to be exported to the USA. Certainly, there are Egyptian-US interests that do not require Israel to be involved as a partner,’ Darrag added. Obama won re-election last week, defeating challenger Mitt Romney in a surprise landslide that many had thought would be a much closer election.
The statement contradicts an earlier statement by a Brotherhood spokesman saying he was pessimistic about a change in foreign policy during Obama’s second term.