COMMENT Any move for a more robust democracy and the establishment of a civil state or, in the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) terminology, a state of care and opportunity, is simply futile without a comprehensive economic agenda.

The recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa post-Arab Spring suggest that any transformation of political nature would be void of values if there is no concomitant change in the economic agenda. Hence it is imperative for the Islamic party that vies the change in government to pay particular attention to this matter.

The Muslim Brotherhood, or more famously known as al-Ikhwan, is probably the most organised civil society in Egypt. It has, for example, been criticised for its economic agenda that prioritises the one percent of the population. They are known now as "the Brotherhood's one percent", a term initially coined by the world protest movement Occupy...