Muslim Brotherhood aims for Egyptian presidency

By Heba Saleh in Cairo
khairat al-shater

The Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Islamist group that controls parliament, has announced it would field a presidential candidate in a move that is likely to escalate its confrontation with the country’s military rulers.

The group said on Saturday evening it has chosen Khairat al-Shater, its top strategist and deputy leader, as its candidate in the May 23 presidential election.


The Brotherhood had pledged last year that it would not contest the presidential election in an apparent bid to reassure the army and western countries that there would be no Islamist power grab.

It now says it has been forced to present a candidate by the intransigence of the ruling military council which has refused to sack the interim government and appoint a new one led by the main forces in the elected parliament.

Freedom and Justice, the political arm of the Brotherhood, occupies just under half of the seats in parliament. Nour, an ultraconservative Islamist group, controls a quarter of the seats. The FJP has started measures in parliament to withdraw confidence from the government headed by Kamal Ganzouri who was appointed by the military.

Mahmoud Hussein, a senior Brotherhood official, said the decision was made in response to “threats to the Egyptian revolution” and to the country’s democratic transition.

Signs of a power struggle between the Brotherhood and the military council burst into public view last week with the two sides trading threats. The Islamists warned against a second revolution, while the generals hinted at a possible return to the repressive measures of the past targeting the Brotherhood.

Analysts say the formation of a new government is not the only issue in dispute between the soldiers and the politically-ascendant Islamists. The two sides, they say, are tussling over how much power the military will be able to retain in the post-Mubarak era.

The military has promised to hand over power after the election of a president in June, but they are understood to want to retain some political influence and a privileged status in the new constitution which shields them from civilian oversight.

The generals are also keen to preserve their economic interests and to get immunity from prosecution over any crimes or financial irregularities that may have been committed under Mr Mubarak or during the transition period since he was ousted.