CAIRO — Egyptian opposition parties seem to have decided to sever any existing or potential relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Civil Democratic Movement, the largest coalition of the Egyptian opposition parties, announced Feb. 6 its intention to present the Egyptian regime with a proposal to amend the parliamentary elections law to guarantee the representation of opposition parties in parliament while also preventing the election of candidates who are linked to the Brotherhood.

Legislative elections are expected to be held in November; the Civil Democratic Movement wants to see parties elected through proportional representation rather than through a winner-take-all closed list system.

The Civil Democratic Movement only declared the general principles of the draft law it intends to propose, without revealing any details. Still, it raised the ire of the Brotherhood and its allies. Gamaa Islamiya leader Tarek al-Zumar said in a press interview Feb. 16, “If I were in the movement's place, I would have chosen to open up to national reconciliation and to issue electoral legislation that would allow all Egyptians to participate in the elections.”

Zumar said the proposal to amend the parliamentary elections law to ensure that no Brotherhood members could be in parliament divides those confronting the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi; Zumar said the Civil Democratic Movement is thus contributing to “deepening intellectual and political polarization by insisting on opposing the Brotherhood.”