Islamist presidential hopeful Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh launched his political platform on Monday at a celebratory rally in Cairo’s Al-Azhar Park that brought together thousands of cheering fans, and endorsements from figures across the ideological spectrum who praised his moderate Islamist outlook and steadfast support for the revolution.
At the end of the rally, Abouel Fotouh addressed the enthusiastic crowd, promising to bring a younger generation into government and be involved with national security issues, long held as the military’s exclusive jurisdiction.
“Abouel Fotouh is one of the revolution’s genuine, not fake, candidates,” Arab nationalist columnist Hamdi Qandil told the crowd. “All strugglers who believe in the 25 January [revolution] shall support the revolution’s candidates, and on top of them, Abouel Fotouh.”
Qandil long supported Mohamed ElBaradei, whose anti-Hosni Mubarak campaign in 2010 is held by many observers as one instigator of the revolution that culminated in Hosni Mubarak’s ouster last year.
After ElBaradei’s withdrawal from the presidential race, thousands of activists and intellectuals found in Abouel Fotouh the most viable candidate who could achieve the revolution’s goals while holding off attempts to establish a religious state.
“[Abouel Fotouh] is the candidate who represents our Islam and we tell those who want to monopolize Islam that our Islam bring hearts together but yours make drive wedges between hearts,” Abdel Rahman Youssef, a poet and former ElBaradei supporter, said in an apparent reference to the ultraconservative Salafis, who control almost a quarter of seats in Parliament and have alarmed many Egyptians with their calls to implement Sharia.
Abouel Fotouh is likely the only Islamist presidential candidate capable of attracting liberal and Christian votes. Formerly a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, his moderate views on the role of women and non-Muslims, as well as the arts, set him at odds with the group’s leadership and culminated in his exclusion from the organization’s Guidance Bureau in late 2009.
Athar al-Hakim, an actress who does not wear a veil, and Mona Makram Ebeid, a Coptic political scientist, also backed Abouel Fotouh at the rally.
“You have before you a politician who understands the meaning of the principle of citizenship,” said Ebeid, in reference to values of equality between all citizens, regardless of their faith, sex, age or class.
Last summer, the Brotherhood’s leadership dismissed Abouel Fotouh from the organization altogether under the pretext that he had violated the group’s decision not to field any candidate to the presidential race. Less than a year later, the group — which holds almost half of Parliament’s seats — reversed that decision, deciding to nominate its most influential leader, Khairat al-Shater, for president. The decision, announced earlier this week, elicited a stir among secularists and Islamists alike, who accused the Brotherhood of violating its promises and seeking to tighten its grip on state institutions.
Kamal al-Helbawy, a prominent Islamist figure who resigned from the Brotherhood on Saturday in objection to Shater’s nomination, was the first to take the stage and express his full backing of Abouel Fotouh.
“Abouel Fotouh is one of the best people who can assume the responsibilities of the presidency,” said Helbawy. “[He] is a man who always supported the revolution, and embraced the revolution’s and the people’s goals. He never betrayed the revolution or left Tahrir Square even for a day.”
Throughout the transitional period, Abouel Fotouh’s discourse has resonated with revolutionary forces as he has remained critical of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and called firmly for a quick handover of power to civilians.
Abul Ela Mady, the leader of the moderate Islamist Wasat Party, also spoke at the ceremony, hailing Abouel Fotouh as “a great national symbol” and wishing him victory in the race, despite his party’s earlier endorsement of Islamist lawyer Mohamed Selim al-Awa.
After listening to the praise coming from different ideological corners, Abouel Fotouh took to the stage to address a crowd that tweaked the revolution’s most famous chant, “The people want to bring down the regime,” into “The people want Abouel Fotouh to become president.”
Abouel Fotouh announced for the first time his political platform, pledging full commitment to the revolution’s goals and the empowerment of young Egyptians who “have given a good example” to older generations by spearheading the revolution. His voice echoed across the park overlooking Old Cairo. “It is time to let our youths lead this country.”
“Our society is patriarchal, and [patriarchy] has a great meaning but it has been misused. Instead of serving to encourage and motivate the youths, it turned into a form of control and domination,” said Abouel Fotouh, promising to appoint upon his victory a vice president who is no older than 45.
“I also promise you that 50 percent of high public offices in the state will be filled by these types of national youths,” he added.
In the meantime, Abouel Fotouh pledged to turn Egypt into “one of the world’s 20 strongest countries” within 10 years.
“In 10 years of serious work, democratic and good governance, responsible freedom and equality, Egypt can be raised up from the rock-bottom where it was thrown by the gang that ruled it,” he added.
As soon as Abouel Fotouh promised to stop referring civilians to military trials and to order the retrial of those convicted by military or exceptional courts, the crowd cheered and shouted, “Down with military rule.”
Though the generals are expected to resist a president without a military background from interfering in their affairs, Abouel Fotouh said on Monday that as president he would take on national security issues. He pledged to increase the size of the military and diversify the sources of weapons imports.
“The army cannot only rely on American weapons,” he said, addressing the Egyptian military’s 33-year close partnership with its US counterpart, which has always been monopolized by the generals. He went on pledging to boost local manufacturing of weapons in the future. “The nation that does not possess its own weapons has no control over its security or stability,” he said.
Last week, Abouel Fotouh filed his nomination request with the Presidential Elections Commission after securing the 30,000-signature requirement. So far, he stands as one of four potential Islamist presidential nominees. His contenders include Salafi candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, Shater and Awa.
Since he announced his intention to run for Egypt’s highest executive post in May 2011, Abouel Fotouh has been marketing himself as the missing link between secularists and Islamists. He has always taken pride in his Islamist background, but in the meantime, he has emphasized values of tolerance, freedom and equality.
Nevertheless, he has recently made a few statements that stressed the role of Islamic Sharia in governance, a development that could be seen as a bid to attract more votes from the Islamist bloc.
