(MENAFN - Alghad Newspaper)

None of the literatures of the 'Partnership and Rescue Party, which was officially registered a few days ago, indicates ideological affiliation to classical Islamism.

There is no mention of the enforcement of the Sharia Law, the establishment of the Islamic State or any other denotation to Islamist references in the traditional sense.

The same goes for Zamza, the Jordanian National Conference Party.

Both parties agree on the basic concepts of the Civil State, the Rule of Law, religious and political pluralism, national unity, reinforcing the state apparatus and the principles of partnership and cooperation for the attainment of common goals.

The important development here is that the founders of both parties are prominent figures of the Muslim Brotherhood, alongside a number of renowned political figures. In the Partnership and Rescue Party, Dr Mohammad Hammouri, the known legal expert, for example is one of the founders.

Both also agree not to antagonise the Brotherhood. Instead, they are working on a new political and ideological approach on the basis of national agendas as opposed to the conventional ideological discourse.

The question of religious identity is no longer central to these two parties, who include hundreds of former Brotherhood youths.

Notably, the Brotherhood has not yet decided to split from the Partnership and Rescue Party as they have with Zamzam.

Personally, I spoke to some of them, during a study I am currently working on with my colleague Neven Bandaqji, on the inclination of Brotherhood youth and post-Islamist parties, like Zamzam and the Partnership and Rescue parties.

Surprisingly, there is a fundamental shift in the classical Brotherhood line of thought, particularly among youth. The spark of a new political understanding.

Where did it come from?

To begin with, there is the internal controversy and crisis within the Muslim Brotherhood, when the national question and its primacy surpassed all other prospects of the premise.

Therefore, in both parties, we find that the reinforcement of the state apparatus is among their primary objectives.

Second, there's the Arab Spring to thank, for the fall of nations, military coups and the fall of the Brotherhood's experiment in Egypt shook the very premise of the Islamist proposition.

On the other hand, there are all the successes of the Turkish model. Post-Islamist leaders like Salem Falahat, Dr Rehail Gharaibeh and Dr Nabil Kofahi are inspired by the Justice and Development Party's success in Turkey. Equally inspiring are the Tunisian and Moroccan Islamist experiments. These parties have all had far more successes than the Brotherhood in Egypt.

This is an important qualitative transmutation for Islamists, setting up to play on an entirely different and open political, national field, for hundreds of ex-Brotherhood youths.

However, Zamzam's brief experiment so far reaffirms the need to reassess and reevaluate their approach.

Two reasons why; first, it is futile to work in isolation from one another. All of them come from the same background and I doubt their partners mind integrating, so long as it is on the grounds of a clear ideological and political basis.

Second, the demographic distribution of the parties' constituencies, even though the Partnership and Rescue Party is down better than Zamzam, is far from effective. Horizontally, they need to expand and diversify to include a more 'pluralist constituency.

On the other hand, Zaki Bani Rsheid has made recent statements indicating similarly fundamental shifts within the Islamic Action Front (IAF), to a lesser extent though.

Much more is expected of all these parties if they are to succeed in what would be considered a groundbreaking transformation. The experiences of Zamzam and the Partnership and Rescue parties will prove enlightening and encompassing for the Brotherhood and IAF to revisit, review and move to new stages.

Above all, the Brotherhood, be it the registered Society or the mother group, should focus on the cultural and social aspects of the Islamist discourse, leave the politics to their three parties.

Either way, the point is today, is giving the youth a new chance to lead their own experiments.

This article is an edited translation of the Arabic version, published by AlGhad.

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