In a quick reaction to the results of America's presidential election, Egypt MPs said the triumph of republican candidate Donald Trump could be a very positive development for Egypt.
Most of the MPs who spoke with parliamentary reporters Wednesday also agreed that the election of Trump should be considered good news for Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi—the first Arab ruler to congratulate him on his triumph. Besides, they added, Trump's victory means a big setback for the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist movements who had high hopes that Democratic party candidate Hilary Clinton would win.
Margaret Azer, a Coptic MP, said in a statement that the election of Trump will surely mean a positive new beginning for the world and the Middle East.
"Trump's victory represents a radical departure from the Obama-Clinton clan who supported the Muslim Brotherhood and other political Islam movements," said Azer, adding that "in fact Hilary Clinton was the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood — rather than the Democratic party — in the US presidential election."
"The election of Trump should also help put an end to the terrorist group ISIS and to chaos in Syria," said Azer.
Azer said that she hopes Trump will move quickly to restore old strategic relations between Egypt and the United States. "This strategic relationship is necessary for America to win the fight against terrorism in the Middle East," said Azer.
Parliament's Human Rights Committee also issued a statement Wednesday, stating that the election of Trump should not come as a surprise. "This election has clearly shown that the American people have voted against the disastrous policies of (current US president) Barack Obama and his former secretary of state Hillary Clinton," said the committee's chairman Alaa Abed.
Abed accused Obama and Clinton of spending billions of dollars on support for Islamist movements in the Middle East. "They were under false convictions that these movements are moderate and democratic, and in this way they gave them cover to spread their terrorism and poisonous ideology in the Middle East," said Abed.
Abed said the stunning victory of Trump has also exposed the American media's flawed and biased coverage of the election and how it managed to mislead the American people and the world. "Please review the hundreds of flawed anti-Trump reports and opinion polls which the American media published for months, to discover the disgusting reality of this malicious media," said Abed.
Abed also agrees that the newly elected Trump should move quickly to restore strategic relations between Egypt and the US. "If he is really serious about fighting radical Islam, he should win big allies like Egypt," said Abed.
In one of his foreign policy speeches last summer, Trump said he would call for an international conference on terrorism and that King Abdallah of Jordan and President El-Sisi of Egypt would top the list of invitees.
El-Sisi was the only Arab president who met with Trump during his visit to New York to attend UN General Assembly meetings last September. On 19 September and after his meeting with El-Sisi, Trump's political advisor Walid Fares told reporters that Trump assured El-Sisi that he looks forward to restoring strategic relations with Egypt.
Phares also told Egyptian MPs who were visiting America at the time that Trump considers the Muslim Brotherhood a radical movement."There is no problem at all with Trump's administration, in that the Muslim Brotherhood would be designated a terrorist organization," said Phares.
Phares also said that Trump greatly appreciates the Egyptian people's willingness to stand against the Muslim Brotherhood, saving their country from the chaos which hit countries like Syria and Libya.
Abed agrees that Trump's victory represents a big setback to the Muslim Brotherhood. "They were eager to see Clinton become the new president to use it as a tool for exerting pressure on Egypt, but their hopes were seriously dashed," said Abed.
Mostafa Bakri, an independent MP and high-profile journalist, said on his twitter account that the loss of Clinton and the victory of Trump means very bad times for the Muslim Brotherhood and its television mouthpiece "Al-Jazeera."
Other MPs, however, said "Egypt should be cautious in its expectations about Donald Trump."
"I know that some in Egypt are happy and feel optimistic about Trump's victory, but all should be cautious and wait until we see how this new US president will translate his promises into action on the ground," said Tarek El-Khouly, deputy chairman of parliament's foreign relations committee.
El-Khouly, who attended the general assembly meetings in New York last September, said he agrees that President Sisi's meeting with Trump was very positive.
"I agree that there was a kind of love chemistry between the two, and the fact that Trump was keen to meet with El-Sisi should be considered a positive development," said El-Khouly, adding "but I insist that we should not pin exaggerated hopes on Trump because his policies might antagonize the Muslim world in general rather than put an end to political Islam."
Ali Ezz, deputy chairman of Egypt's Information Technology and Telecommunication Committee told reporters that Trump's victory was a big surprise to him. "I was deceived by the American media, but now we see that there was a broad-based rejection of Obama and Clinton in America," said Ezz, adding that "If Trump is serious about fighting terrorism in the Middle East, he should cooperate with strong leaders like El-Sisi and president of Russia Vladimir Putin to stem the tide of political Islam."
Solaf Darwish, a female MP, also agrees that the election of Trump means very bad times ahead for the Muslim Brotherhood. Darwish, who was also in New York last September, said "El-Sisi and Trump's meeting was very positive."
"While Trump told El-Sisi that he wants Egypt to be a big ally of America again, Hilary Clinton showed that she was an extension of the Obama mentality when she tried during the meeting to exert pressure on President El-Sisi by raising issues on human rights and democracy," said Darwish.
