WALL STREET JOURNAL

Javier Monjas - 18/02/2012 - 10:41 AM   GMT+02:00

After 80 years as an underground movement with many members in jail, the Brotherhood found itself at a historic moment. Its decision would likely make or break a loan package believed vital by many Western officials and by Egypt's own business community.

There has been deep distrust in Egypt of the IMF, fueled by a general suspicion of Western meddling and foreign invasions in the 18th and 19th centuries to collect debts. Many Egyptians believe that the Western-style economic reforms of recent years enriched a handful of wealthy regime cronies and did little for regular people.

Yet the Brotherhood recently ended up giving tentative approval to the $3.2 billion IMF loan. "All of a sudden, we found ourselves for the first time and after a very, very short learning process, asked to take a position that would affect everybody's lives," said Essam al-Haddad, the Brotherhood's new senior adviser on foreign affairs.

Since the Brotherhood was legalized after the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak last February, the group has tried to remake itself. A year ago it was a secretive group dominated by elders who had spent much time in Egyptian jails, and little time in Western capitals. Today, after winning a plurality of the seats in recent parliamentary elections, it stands at the cusp of being Egypt's new ruling class.

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